A Rose By Any Other Name
by Gravity In the Air
Summary: There was no denying the two little girls were best friends and the perfect balance for each other. It's almost like they could be sisters. Regina and Maleficent would remember having twins though, right? They'll find out for sure when one of the toddlers has a tantrum. AU. Storybrooke. Modified Dark Curse. Evil!Snow! Mommy!Mal. Mommy!Regina. little!emma. little!lily.
1. Chapter 1

prompt by MonsterGalore Mal + Regina = Emma.

this is an AU that takes place in Storybrooke.

Evil!Snow. (like i write her any other way, lol)

Mommy!Mal and Mommy!Regina with little!emma and lily

sister story over on RowArk's profile called Daughter of Darkness. her take on this prompt, AU in the enchanted forest. she's also my beta fabulous so go check it out! seriously!

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Something was off. Regina just knew in her gut that something was off. It woke her up from slumber. It didn't seem like Lily was crying. The air smelt of magic though. It had their princess's unique signature, but her daughter wasn't in the room with them. A million and one horrible scenarios flew through her mind. Regina threw back the covers and raced into the nursery. Nothing seemed off from this angle. She crept closer, trying not to disturb her sleeping baby, and got quite the surprise.

"Hello, Little One. How did you get here, hmm? You're definitely far from your crib."

A little bundle wrapped in a white blanket similar to her own daughter was now in Lily's crib with her. Hazel eyes blinked up at her as a wide gummy grin spread over the infant's face. Little arms stretched for her. Regina peered down at the perfection Emma was. Something in her just felt so connected to this little blonde. Tiny fingers curled tightly around one of her fingers and brought it to her mouth.

A small whimper emerged as the baby didn't find what she was looking for from the finger. "Oh, are you hungry? We can't have that now. Come on, sweet one."

Regina lifted the new little guest into her arms. Emma snuggled against her chest and tried to root. It was precious. Her own daughter seemed to prefer when Maleficent directly fed her instead of bottles. She knew it was silly to think her daughter had a preference, but Lily was all Mal. It was nice to have an infant that seemed ecstatic to be around her. She poofed a bottle into her hand and sunk into the rocker with the babe. Surely Lily wouldn't mind sharing her food just this once.

Emma attacked the bottle with vigor, one tiny hand on Regina's chest and one on top of the brunette's on the bottle. Little green eyes peered up at her while she fed. This is what the brunette was missing with her own daughter. The bonding that went on during feeding. Regina slowly stroked a finger around the baby's face, tracing the smooth skin and soft curls.

"You're a precious one. Lily must like you if she brought you here. I can tell you're going to be the best of friends."

Part of Reginia felt guilty for the bond with Emma that seemed to form instantly when her own daughter was sleeping in the crib a few feet over. If Regina was honest with herself though, she'd been feeling unwanted by her own baby. It wasn't that Lily didn't like being with Regina. It's just that her baby seemed happier around her blonde mother. If Emma was here and wanted her attention, she was going to dote on the sweet little one.

Neither babe nor Regina noticed the older blonde in the doorway watching them. "I see we have a guest," Maleficent commented as she moved further into the room.

Regina burped Emma and resumed feeding her the rest of the bottle. "Lily's magic brought her here. I guess they got along better than we thought at music class. I hope you don't mind I used one of our bottles."

Mal stepped over to stand at her wife's side, peering down at the baby. Emma glanced over at her before focusing back on Regina and eating her bottle. Something about the little one called to her. She knew this wouldn't be the last time they saw the babe.

"Did you think all these months ago getting this room ready that we'd have our daughter _and_ Snow's daughter in here?"

 _Sixteen months ago…_

Regina and Maleficent were putting the finishing touches on the nursery. Well, Maleficent was sitting in the rocking chair heavily pregnant and giving commands to Regina about where things should go and how things should look. The walls had finally been painted and dried. They both decided not to use magic, to celebrate creating this room together without help. Who knew wall color was such a big deal. Who knew a baby in this realm needed so much.

"Are you excited? I can't wait to do all the firsts in a realm I can capture it in."

The brunette glanced at her wife who was stroking her belly, tiny movements following the hand. "There will be no shortage of pictures that's for sure. We're going to do everything we can to give her all this world has to offer. I need to create a private school and educate more teachers. The playground needs an update. The daycare needs to be reassessed. We really need to find more doctors in this world beside the midget and the sleaze."

"I found a bunch of Mommy and Me classes I want to bring here, music, yoga, dance, swimming, reading…. I can't wait for everything! Her first laugh, first smile, first word… We're going to have to get those fence things to go by the stairs to keep her from falling down them. Do we get her a pet before or after she asks for one? What is she going to call us? I can't bear to send her to school."

Regina laughed and shook her head. "Dear, we have a while yet before she walks or talks, years before she's off to school. The mayor's daughter _must_ go to school. We cannot keep her wrapped up here in a bubble."

"Why not? I can keep her safe in here. I can't keep her safe from everything out there." Maleficent rubbed her belly, really wishing she could just keep her baby safe inside her belly forever.

"We are two of the most powerful sorceresses here. Whatever happens, we are equipped to handle it." The brunette bustled around the room trying to sort all the clothes they'd gotten at their baby shower. It had a fairly large turnout. They really didn't have to buy anything outside the furniture Mal had insisted they pick together.

"Darling, hang the pictures and then come sit next to me. We can put away the clothes later."

"I'm not leaving this room in disarray. It will be a mess soon enough when our princess comes. For now, let me have this place in order. I am the one who spent days setting up this nursery. Let me finish it."

Maleficent watched in amusement as Regina bustled around, touching everything in the room at least once. "I would have helped, but someone has been a warden since finding out we were having a baby. You didn't even let me use the bathroom by myself for a week."

Regina knelt down in front of her wife and ran her hands over the bump that held their baby. "I wasn't going to do anything to risk our little one. I'd do it all again if I were presented the same options. You're both here and both healthy. I can't believe we're going to meet her soon! Did you ever think we would get here? From teenage love and a crazed demon princess to being married and now having a princess of our own."

Maleficent smiled and shook her head. "We've been through some crazy shit alright. I wouldn't change it though. We wouldn't be here right now, about to welcome our little girl if we did." Her stomach chose that moment to growl.

"You hungry, little one? What do you want for supper?"

"Chicken risotto and vegetables."

"Really? Is that a dish the baby wants or is that what _you_ want?"

"Totally the baby. Do you remember the last time we ate that meal?"

Both smiled and Regina leaned up to wrap her wife in a hug. They thought back to the day they found out they were having a baby.

 _flashback  
_ _

 _Maleficent woke up feeling incredibly nauseous again. She stood up to race to the bathroom and nearly fell over at the dizziness that overwhelmed her. Regina frowned and shot her hand out, using magic to steady her wife. Mal had been extremely pale and looked worn out lately. She was eating very little and always seemed to be getting sick. Perhaps it was the flu. Maybe it was the seafood they'd had at The Oyster Club two nights ago. Whatever was going on, it worried Regina._

 _Sounds of retching filled the silent house. Regina wanted to go help her wife, but she didn't want to start another fight with the abnormally moody woman. Instead she got dressed and went to start coffee. She left before Maleficent came downstairs, leaving a thermos of coffee and a bowl of fruit out for her._

 _The blonde sighed as the sickness finally subsided. She'd been feeling ill for a week now without it going away. Magic wasn't working to fix whatever was wrong. Maybe it was time to resort to this realm's tactics. She threw on some yoga pants and an oversized red sweater before going downstairs. The coffee and fruit touched her. No matter how uncharacteristically snappy and mean she'd been to her wife lately, Regina was forever doing little things to show she cared. Sighing, she drove herself to the hospital._

 _Dr. Whale had taken blood samples and done countless tests. Mal felt she'd been sitting in the room alone for hours before the man finally came back in. "Mrs. Rose-Mills, I am not sure how magic works exactly, but have you and your wife been intimate in the past few weeks?"_

" _I really don't see how that's your business."_

" _I'm your doctor. I'm trying to figure out how this happened. Just answer."_

 _Mal hated the way the creep made no move to hide his lecherous appraisal of her body. "Valentine's Day, yes….why?"_

" _You are pregnant. Congratulations. Based on that date I'd say you are about two weeks along, due early November. I'm going to do a pelvic exam to see if the baby is doing okay."_

" _Absolutely not! You're going nowhere near my body. Send in Jasmine. She's my OB-GYN. There's no way you're getting near there. Regina will have your head for this."_

 _The man blanched and quickly fled, her regular doctor appearing a few minutes later. The cold wand inside her was not pleasant, but there on the screen was a tiny little bean, her baby. Jasmine just smiled when the dragon started crying, passing her a tissue box. "Congrats, Mama. I'm going to print your pictures and take some more blood to get some more tests done. The pharmacy will have your vitamins. Elise will schedule your next appointment. Have fun telling the mayor."_

 _The mayor… her wife. She needed to do something extraordinarily special to tell her wife, especially after the way she'd been treating her this past week. How does one tell their wife that she made you pregnant? The rest of the day seemed to float past in a haze. She went to the pharmacy and the grocery store. The baby boutique called to her and she could not resist going in there. Ashley Boyd, formerly Cinderella, was actually very helpful with creative ideas to tell Regina._

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 _Regina came home to find the house quiet. She'd called her wife's phone during lunch and it was off. Her wife's secretary informed her that she'd called in sick. Perhaps something was really wrong. She poofed herself upstairs to find the bedroom unoccupied., same with the bathroom. The study was empty. The kitchen was the last place she expected her wife._

" _What are you doing?"_

 _Mal turned to look at her wife over her shoulder. "Hello, love. I'm making dinner. Go take a bath. It'll be ready when you're done." She walked over and kissed Regina before turning her towards the stairs._

 _Not one to deny a hot bath after a stressful day, Regina did as she was told. She reemerged in the kitchen in yoga pants and a purple sweater. Her wife had turned the lights down low, table set with candles glowing. There was a glass of wine and a kiss waiting for her when she made her way to the table. Regina was halfway through her chicken risotto and vegetables before noticing._

" _Dear, is there a reason we're eating the same meal we had on Valentine's Day? Are you expecting someone else?" Regina noticed a third place was set with an empty plate._

" _Finish your dinner, dear. I'll tell you afterwards. I don't want to let the hard work go to waste."_

 _Nerves coiled tight in Regina's stomach as she raced to finish dinner. Mal seemed in no hurry though, slowly eating what little was on her plate and then rinsing the dishes off for the dishwasher. Regina bounced in nervous agitation._

" _Now, tell me now!"_

 _Maleficent smiled and nodded towards the plate still on the table, directing Regina's attention away from her. It now held a gift bag. Slowly Regina went to open it. She pulled out a pack of purple and green pacifiers, a baby bottle full of pink jellybeans, and a little stuffed dragon sporting a pink bow. "What is the mean-" a tiny card attached to the dragon toy caught her attention. Regina studied the image before noticing her wife's name was on it. "Is this?"_

 _The blonde smiled at how emotional her wife had become once it clicked in her head. She simply nodded, and Regina rushed to embrace her in a tight hug complete with searing kiss. "Pretty sure that is how we got here." Maleficent laughed and placed her hand on her flat belly._

" _There's a baby in there! We made a baby! How? When did you find out?"_

" _Relax, dear heart. I just found out this morning. I went to the hospital to see if I could figure out what was wrong. Dr. Whale offered to examine me. I told him you'd pay him a visit about it. Easy, I had Jasmine do the exam. We're having a baby!"_

 _Regina kissed her wife again, spinning her around in her arms. "Let's take this upstairs and I can show you how happy I am!"_

 _Post-coital bliss, Regina held her wife close. "Did you ever imagine this for us when we cast the Dark Curse to bring us here?"_

" _No, but then again, we modified the curse to simply give us new identities here. We didn't take away anyone's happiness. We gave them equal status, good jobs, indoor plumbing, cars, hospitals... I mean it's a shame how we had to get here, but we get to raise our baby in a land where she can get the best education and access to healthcare. We're going to give our baby the best in everything._

 _Little did they know, across town said woman was with Rumple looking in on their private moment through a crystal ball. Both were devising a way to take this baby from them. She was going to get her revenge if it was the last thing she did. Rumple was slightly terrified of the mania in the young brunette. He felt the women needed to be taught a lesson for not giving him the life he'd written into the curse, but he didn't want to hurt either of them the way the brunette did. Somehow he had to create a way that gave the girl what she wanted in a way that didn't knowingly hurt Regina or Maleficent._

" _My dear, congratulations are in order. In nine months you will have a little girl. I'd start preparing. I'll come up with ways to fake your pregnancy as it goes along. Lucky you, getting a child after taking that infertility potion. Do remember, this baby will be an innocent. This world has rules and laws about being a bad parent. Punishment from the forest will not be tolerated here. Children are her as such or I will not help you."_

" _Now, now, Rumple. We both know that if you ever want to see_ _ **your**_ _child again that you're going to do everything I want. Start with procuring me a positive pregnancy test. Go now. I must prepare."_

 _end of flashback_

"Chicken risotto with vegetables it is, love. I can't wait for our baby to get here! She's never going to know what it's like to feel unloved or hurt by her parents. We're going to get her the best nanny while we're working and get her the best education. She's never going to want for anything."

Maleficent leaned down a bit to kiss Regina, her belly getting in the way. "Spoiled little princess," she agreed as she looked around the room. Their baby was indeed going to be spoiled. This nursery was decked to the nines in clothes, furniture, and toys. There was honestly an entire department store in this room. Mal didn't know how it all fit. She was pretty sure they'd be ready for the apocalypse if they stayed in here. Looking at her happy wife talking to their baby, she couldn't dream of anything more than they had right now. It was all so perfect.

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hope you enjoyed. the girls will be making a brief appearance in the next chapter. they really come to focus in chapter three.

i know it's kind of odd to have a flashback inside a flashback, but it just works :)


	2. Chapter 2

here's your update :)

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Maleficent was intrigued with Halloween. There was much controversy surrounding the holiday here. Some believed it an evil time where monsters, spirits, and creatures of the damned roamed free. Others celebrated some supposed connection to the spirit world. People dressed their children up and sent them door to door to get fed sugary treats. She was planning on giving out Dole fruit cups and bags of mini carrots with sharpie on them to look like pumpkin faces. She'd been planning for a week she was so excited.

"Darling, you cannot give children fruits and vegetables for trick-or-treating. They'll egg our house and decorate it with toilet paper. I'm _not_ cleaning that up. It's bad enough you had me turn the front yard into a haunted maze. It's adorable that you are so into this holiday, but we are giving out candy bars. Don't you think our plate is full enough with cooking our princess these last few weeks?"

The blonde sighed. Perhaps her wife was right. "Fine, but the mini size and next to them will be a plate of fangs made out of apples, peanut butter, and marshmallows. I found it in a cookbook. I don't like all the sugary things in this world designed to rot out teeth. Our child will _not_ be ingesting that."

Regina just nodded in agreement. She didn't want her princess to ruin her teeth or her diet with a lot of processed, sugary junk. She also knew that everything in moderation or it drives someone mad in want. Keeping their daughter away from all sugar was bound to create envy of children who got sugar and cause her to sneak it in. She snuggled in closer to her wife. Tomorrow was Halloween. They'd focus on the children currently here and worry about their daughter's eating habits when she was off liquids.

A pressing need to use the bathroom woke Maleficent. There was also a dull ache in her lower back. She tried to sleep a few more hours, but woke up at three. The ache didn't seem to want to go away. It wasn't like she could take anything for it, so she went downstairs and made herself some food. Her wife made fun of her odd cravings. At least she'd have some peace to eat what she wanted. Mal settled herself in the armchair and turned on the heated massaging thing Regina had bought her. This was where Regina found her hours later, asleep with some infomercial on the television, a half eaten plate of pickles, turkey bacon, and a mound of peanut butter.

"Oddest cravings ever," the brunette muttered as she threw the plate away and put the jar of pickles back in the fridge.

The ache didn't get better with a shower. It didn't get better when they made the treats for the children. As cute as the little ones were that came to go through the maze and get their treats, it didn't bring as much joy as Mal was hoping because the ache got worse. Regina had sent her to nap for a while. She didn't even know she'd fallen asleep until a sharp pain jolted her upright in bed.

"What? What's wrong? Maleficent? Honey?" The jarring movement had dislodged Regina's arm from her wife's stomach. The instant loss of heat and contact from her wife had immediately woken her. Something was not right.

"It hurts. It's been like this for hours, but this hurts so bad. Make it stop!"

The panic and anguish in her wife's voice nearly broke Regina's heart. "Shh, it's going to be okay. How long has it been hurting?"

Maleficent fiddled with her nightshirt, not wanting to answer. Regina would be so upset for not telling her sooner. Her wife, bless her heart, had taken out every pregnancy book in the library. She'd changed their diets to best provide for the baby. She'd traded her Mercedes for a larger, safer family SUV. She'd bought the top of the line car seat that grew as their baby would grow. She even had the sheriff install the carseat and Jasmine come inspect the house for safety. She'd held her hair back through every bout of sickness, been diligent in having her take her vitamins and keep all appointments. For as much as she was carrying this baby, this pregnancy was Regina's too, every step of the way.

"Honey, when did your back start hurting?"

"This morning, about twenty to one. It was fine, honest. It hurts so damn much now!"

"Is that why you left bed this morning so early? We're going to time these, but I think it's time to go to the hospital. Our princess is ready to be here."

"No! It's too early. She's not due for two weeks. I can- MOTHER FUC-"

"Hey, we don't want our daughter's first thing she hears to be cursing. If she's ready to come now, she's ready to come now. She's past thirty six weeks. She'll be okay. You'll both be okay."

The pair grabbed the hospital bag that had been at the nursery door for weeks and went to the hospital. Mal tried not to curse, but all be damned when the nurse informed her that there was no time for drugs. Her water broke just as Jasmine walked into the room.

"I see your daughter knows I'm here, and is ready. You two ready for this?"

"If you don't get this child out of me I will tear this place down wall by wall with my bare hands!"

Jasmine tried not to laugh as she got the tray ready and set Maleficent's legs. It took three hours and more curse words than either Regina or Jasmine knew existed, but a little girl with a head full of black hair came squalling into the world at 11:45pm. She was a tiny thing, barely six pounds. What shocked Jasmine was the appearance of a second baby. The doctor was expecting the placenta but got an even smaller little one, just over five pounds with equally dark hair, seven minutes later.

The mommies were too engrossed in holding and staring at their little girl to care about the magic swirl in the room. They had their perfect little angel in their arms. A few moments later the room unfroze. Gone was the newly born twin, leaving the doctor in confusion as she stared down at a placenta where a child had just been. She shook her head. It must have been a hallucination, too many hours working straight through without sleep.

In a room down the hall sat the former White queen and her husband. None of the staff remember her showing up or delivering a baby. They don't even really remember her having prenatal appointments, but there nonetheless was the queen holding a newborn. The little girl was a tiny runt of a thing with hair as black as the woman who held her close. It was even more odd they'd had to run to the pharmacy to get formula. It was a modern invention no one had ever used here before. The infant was a fussy one when not in the nursery with the other babies, swaddled tightly or cuddled close by a nurse.

The four left the hospital at the same time, and not on accident. Regina and Maleficent had been doting on their precious new one. They hadn't even known Snow and her husband were even there until they were wheeled to the exit doors together.

Snow looked over at the carrier Mal was holding in her lap and smirked. "Must be the season for little girls. They look so like, almost like twins. Seems fate wanted us connected after all."

The women blanched at the words and tried to look at the car seat Snow was carrying, but a thick white blanket covered the top. It looked so much like the one Granny had knitted their daughter. They couldn't see the baby's face, but the blanket did have 'Emma' sewn into it in purple ribbon.

Granny, by fate's chance, was waiting for them when they arrived home. Regina helped Mal into the house while the old woman took in the baby carrier. "I did knit another blanket around the time I did yours, but I never gave it out. It just disappeared one day. I've no idea why I made it or where it went. Handmade blankets are easy to order through catalogue here I suppose though. Perhaps the girl ordered one." She certainly would have remembered giving the girl who had tried to kill her a baby blanket.

Mal and Regina felt unsettled after their encounter with Snow. They had to see her every day, especially since Maleficent headed the school. Something had just seemed so off about their meeting. Surely they'd know if they'd had twins. Why was the blanket over the carrier though? It wasn't cold out, far from it. It was a surprisingly warm day. They went to bed that night remembering the night that started it all.

 _ **flashback**_

 _Regina had discovered Maleficent at the age of seventeen. Her mother had sent her to Rumple to get better trained in magic. Cora had wanted to foster the dark magic, not the light inside of her daughter. She had no idea how to cultivate light magic, no use for it. Mal had been one of Rumple's students too. Together they trained and friendship grew into more. It surprised Regina that her mother actually supported them. She'd hated her friendship with the stable boy and had him fired._

" _But darling girl, Maleficent is to be queen of the Forbidden Forest. Her sister Briar is far too delicate for such a position. It will be your girl, and I promised you would be queen one day. Magic can provide an heir. The kingdom is prosperous. What isn't to support?"_

 _It had bothered them both the reasons Cora supported it, but they'd rather have her blessing than attempt to sneak around her. They were in the forest clearing by the stables having a picnic when Snow saw them. She thought Regina looked like the perfect new woman to become her new mother. The others hadn't been right, but this dark haired woman was perfect. This time she had stolen fairy dust and potions to make her comply if this time turned sour too._

 _Snow spooked her horse and it took off wildly with her on it, and like planned, the women were up and after her, trying to save her._

 _Regina and Mal had been sitting and talking when a dark blur of a horse went racing by carrying a screaming girl. Both jumped up and got on their horses, taking off after her. Regina pulled the girl, no older than ten or eleven, onto her horse and left Mal to soothe the animal. Snow had introduced herself to them as the princess of the White Kingdom._

 _Snow returned a few days later with her father, King Leopold, who had extended the offer of marriage. The little princess had been insistent, and what Snow wanted she got. Regina had turned down the offer though, and Cora agreed._

" _I will not be having my daughter marry the man I was once betrothed to. Besides, she is betrothed to Princess Maleficent here. They will be announced this coming coronation."_

" _I believe Princess Briar Rose is becoming queen, not Maleficent."_

 _The blonde bristled at being talked about like she wasn't in the room. "Actually, my sister has no desire to rule the kingdom. She is often sickly, and she prefers travel when well. Life stuck up in a castle ruling over the masses isn't for her. It will be announced with the engagement at the coronation."_

 _The king and his daughter left after being assured there was no offer on the table rewarding enough to break off the engagement to Maleficent._

" _I'm sorry your girl lost her mother and you your wife, but my daughter isn't a fill-in. She's nobody's replacement. To marry Regina off to a man older than her father to a falling kingdom just won't do. You might try fixing your alliances first. If all fails, try striking a deal with Rumple. There are plenty of women in all the kingdoms. Perhaps Alice, the heir to Wonderland would enjoy your kingdom?"_

 _They retreated back to their castle, never expecting to see Leopold or Snow again. Summerland had little to no interaction with the White Kingdom. There was no need. The forest was free to travel past and all other kingdoms could be reached by sea. Nothing was in the White Kingdom that anyone desired. They were all surprised when Snow appeared at their stables._

" _Regina! Regina we need to talk!"_

 _Both Maleficent and Regina appeared in front of the girl, hands held tight. Cora was in the castle, but felt a nagging in her stomach that something was wrong. She set off for the stables where she knew her daughter was._

" _You refused to be mine. I don't like being refused. The others, they weren't the right choice. You though, you were perfect. You are going to be my mother whether you want to or not!"_

 _Regina and Maleficent frowned. This is the princess said to be good, the fairest of them all. Both felt the darkness radiating off her though. It made no sense._

" _Others? What others?"_

 _The girl just sneered. "I've been trying to find a new mother since mine died. She said she'd always be with me if I kept good, but she left. None of the others I found were quite right. No one was going to be as good a mother as you. They had to go. You were supposed to say yes. You weren't supposed to be with anyone. You_ _ **will**_ _be my mother or I shall destroy your happiness if it's the last thing I do!"_

 _Both women blanched. They'd heard rumors of a child going around playing with dark magic tricks. They'd never expected it to be this little princess. That meant Snow White had hurt people, had killed them and had gotten away with it. The girl wasn't magically gifted, so who was giving her the magic to do harm?_

" _Father took your mother's advice and contacted the Dark One. He didn't know I've been learning potions from him since my mother died. He's going to save our kingdom, make us more powerful than you. If you don't marry my father, we will take over yours and force you."_

" _Little girl, you're messing with some evil you don't have any understanding of. Abandon it now and your heart might not grow dark forever. Return to your innocent ways and leave magic to those it's meant for. Regina will not be your mother. She's mine and I am hers. A mother meant to be yours will come if the Fates desire."_

 _Hearing from Maleficent angered the little princess. Cora poofed in just as Snow readied a potion._

" _You're going to pay for refusing me!"_

" _NO!" Cora leapt in front of her daughter and her girlfriend, potion hitting her square in the chest before swirling around her._

 _Regina watched her mother be turned into a snail before Snow stepped on her. "Destroy your happiness," the princess muttered before running off, leaving Maleficent holding a sobbing Regina._

 _ **end of flashback**_

"Do you think things will be okay? I'm terrified she will come after our baby."

"Regina, we gave her a mouse of a persona. Even if Snow comes back, she has an enchanted cuff that will prevent any dark magical acts. If she does something stupid now she's going to lose her child. We just had a baby. I'm scared too, but we've got bigger worries. Our baby is home now. She's all ours. There's no more nurses or doctors a button away. Can we please focus on this little princess? We'll revisit dealing with her later."

Sighing, Regina nodded. The pit of her stomach was still sunk. Something was wrong, but she didn't know what. Forcing the feeling away for now she focused on what was here in front of her, her wife and her new princess.

"Yes, let's focus on our little princess. Welcome home, Lilith Coraline Rose-Mills."

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emma is making her appearance next chapter... well in a way regina and mal can see :)


	3. Chapter 3

Lily was a thriving, squirmy newborn. She loved seeing everything possible. She was a healthy little eater, getting a little chunky quickly. Her dark hair only darkened further, much to Maleficent's surprise. Her grey eyes turned a rich dark brown too.

"For all my hard work cooking you, you certainly look exactly like your mommy. It's a good thing you prefer me." The blonde cooed at her princess.

The infant did seem to prefer her blonde mother. She stayed quieter longer when Maleficent swaddled her. she seemed to get less upset when Mal changed her versus the all out screaming she delivered when Regina changed her. Lily seemed to prefer coming to school over being at the Town Hall all day. Indeed, their little princess may _look_ like Regina, but she preferred Maleficent's company.

Lily was loud. She was a chatty baby. There were no small whimpers or cries when she was unhappy. If something was wrong, everyone knew about it. She loved seeing all the people bustling around outside the office at school. She quieted a bit when people actually came into the office though. If people aside from her mothers tried to hold her, Lily cried.

Across town, the other newborn in Storybrooke was Lily's exact counterpart. Emma's dark hair fell out after a week and grew back in so blonde her little curls were nearly white. Her eyes stayed hazel with swirls of green and blue. She was a quiet baby who preferred being around her father. She liked observing people without people observing her.

Townsfolk weren't quick to be near the Dark Princess's baby, but those that did hold Emma were greeted with a gummy smile. Emma certainly didn't like being around people much, but she did know how to instantly charm anyone who looked at her.

"It isn't fair that you cry all night unless David holds you. I'm your mother. You should calm for me! What is wrong?" Snow had succumbed to Emma's silent ways and piercing eyes. She was truly coming around to the infant. It frustrated her that her baby didn't seem to want her.

Emma constantly ate like she was starving, mostly because the little girl was. The store formula didn't agree with her little tummy at all. The baby threw up every time she ate. She hadn't put on much weight since leaving the hospital. Ruby and Granny had taken to creating a custom rice and soy liquid that stayed down a little better. The hospital gave them a powdered vitamin mix to add in. Poor dear just couldn't keep a whole meal down though.

Both girls loved their blankets. Both voiced protests at baths. They loved to be read to and cuddled. The little ones loved to kick and wiggle about. Pacifiers were a must along with their favourite lovey , which happened to be the same light green dragon plush toy. What was most similar though was the sparks of white magic that occasionally burst out of their little fingertips when they really wanted something. Neither set of parents knew what to do about it, so they just left it alone. Mal and Regina waited to see how powerful the magic was. Snow and David left it alone because they knew nothing about children having magic.

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Maleficent read over the schedule her wife had given her. "Regina, Lily is six months old. I highly doubt she needs a music class or a reading class right now. We can do these things at home with her, where there are less people with less germs. I agreed to Mommy and Me Yoga, not the entire spectrum of offerings this town provides parents and infants."

"She's the daughter of the mayor and the principal. Lily needs to start being socialized with infants her age. We can't just keep taking her to work with us to hide in our offices all day. Give the classes a try. If you truly hate them, you can stick to just yoga."

"Six months old, Regina! What kind of socializing does an infant need to do besides tell us when she's unhappy, hungry, or wet? She's not exactly running for prom queen here."

"Which she will win if she runs because royalty is in her blood. It's who she is. You have to start them early though. We're going to those classes."

Maleficent sighed. Sometimes her wife was really just too much when it came to their princess. "Jellybean, your mommy is going a bit crazy right now. She's probably always going to be overbearing, but you have me. Together we'll hide in a corner."

The women looked around the room at the parents and infants in attendance. Maleficent decided to put up with the music class because the playlist included a bunch of female rockstars she was fond of. Lily was fond of them too if her high pitched squeals of delight and wriggling were any indication.

The door burst open ten minutes into the class. Everyone turned to find Snow and David holding an infant carrier. Regina and Maleficent tensed and moved Lily a bit closer to them on the mat. Snow didn't seem to notice though and plopped the carrier down next to them. Both missed her smirk as they were fixated on Emma. Snow hadn't really brought her to school and they hadn't seen the baby yet. They'd heard of her from Ruby, but never saw the little one's face yet.

Both gasped as eyes the color of a stormy sea fixated on them. Emma smiled at them and reached out. Maleficent had to grab Regina's hand as the brunette went to touch the baby, forgetting Snow was a mere foot away. The pull to this little girl was immediate, and it seemed to be a family thing as Lily rolled on her belly and craned her head to see Emma once the little blonde was on the mat next to her.

The four adults watch closely as the two babies stare each other down. The music seemed to fade away for them as they waited for something to happen. Three minutes of silent staring and Regina was sure her daughter was going to reject the new little cutie. She was about to pick Lily up when the two started babbling back and forth, almost like they were having a conversation.

Maleficent picked up Lily and helped her sit facing Emma. David was supporting Emma so she wouldn't fall. Tiny foreheads gently knocked together as both babies leaned forward. Neither cried or sounded upset, just kept babbling away at one another.

"Wow! I'm impressed. Normally she doesn't take to being around other people well. They act like they know each other!"

Snow smirked at her husband's oblivious statement. Far be it from her to stop the innuendos. They couldn't all be from her or the two witches would figure it out. Emma was hers now. She wasn't about to let them have her back. She excused herself to the bathroom, leaving David to tend to Emma.

Maleficent reached out and touched Emma's little flailing fist. Fingers immediately latched on to her pointer finger. The babbling ceased as Emma stared at the finger and then up at Maleficent, eyes wide. The women smiled at her and the baby got excited, shaking the finger wildly back in forth, making high pitched noises at them. It almost seemed like Emma was introducing herself to them, but babies couldn't talk. It was a silly notion.

Lily didn't cry or seem upset that her mothers were giving Emma attention. In fact, she happily watched, making noise at Emma every time the blonde infant looked to her.

"If I didn't know better I'd say Lily was encouraging Emma to talk to us." Regina was awed at her daughter. Their princess was very possessive of her mommies. No small child came near them when she was around without getting shrieking cries that could break an eardrum. She was also in awe of this adorable infant Lily was playing with. If Lily was Regina's mini, Emma was definitely Mal's.

"Could you take Emma until Snow comes back? I need to be at the animal shelter. She should be back soon." David pushed over Emma's bag to Regina, not leaving until the brunette had a hold on the little one.

Regina couldn't help herself anymore. Emma called to her. Babies weren't really her thing aside from Lily, but this one had almost put a spell on her it seemed. All she wanted to do was hold this little one close and never let her go. Emma squealed in delight when Regina blew a raspberry on her neck before hugging her close.

"She's beautiful. Such a pure child for one with such a dark mother. I wish we could just claim her and keep her with us always." Maleficent studied the infant. With one hand she supported Lily and with the other she stroked the small blonde head.

"We can't take a child from her mother no matter how much we'd like. Lily seems to adore her. Perhaps we can get some sort of arrangement where Emma is with us for part of the day or something. Maybe we can watch her when they both are busy. Anything to try and keep her heart light. For some reason having her in my arms feels right."

Snow watched from the shadows of the doorway as Regina, Maleficent, and Lily bonded with Emma. They seemed like the perfect little family in that moment. It caused her to smirk and narrow her eyes in glee before walking over. "Sorry I was gone so long. Was Emma any trouble?"

Regina did her best not to pout or frown when Snow took Emma from her arms. The little one started to whimper a protest. "No, she's been great. Lily loves her."

"Cute. I'm sure they'll be as close as sisters growing up, sharing a birthday and all. I have to go. Say goodbye, Emma."

Emma started crying as Snow placed her in the carrier. The second Emma's carrier started retreating from Lily, the little girl started sobbing. Maleficent and Regina scrambled to soothe their daughter, casting glances as Emma's retreating form. Neither baby really calmed down after they were separated. Emma became pouty and upset, refusing her bottles. Lily wouldn't let her mothers put her down or she started crying again. It was a miracle to the mothers that either baby fell asleep at all.

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Regina woke, an intuition telling her something was amiss in Lily's room. Magic hung in the air. The closer she got to the nursery the more she realized the magic contained her daughter's signature. She was a bit shocked to find little Emma laying next to Lily in her crib wrapped in her blanket. The baby smiled at her and latched onto her finger, attempting to suckle on it.

"Oh, are you hungry? We can't have that now. Come on, sweet one."

Maleficent got the honours of calling the Nolan residence to alert David and Snow that Emma was with them. It was a shock to them both when David suggested they just let Emma spent the night if she was finally sleeping instead of crying. Mal could leave Emma with Snow in the morning at school.

The blonde finished her phone call and watched her wife snuggle little Emma to her chest. She was glad they were getting this time. Both had simply fallen in love with the little one upon seeing her. All three had been a bit sad since leaving Emma. As horrible as it was to admit, Lily seemed to prefer Mal to Regina, so her wife getting this time with Emma was excellent.

Green eyes barely glanced at Mal before staring back up at Regina while the little one went to town on her bottle. Mal frowned a bit. Her milk shouldn't be agreeing so easily with a child that wasn't at least magic, let alone not part dragon. Her wife brought her from inside her own head before she could think too much on it though.

"What's wrong? Do we have to take her back now?"

Regina hugged Emma a little closer to her, not ready to let the baby go. Mal smiled as the little hand that had been on her wife's breast squeezed into a fist around the pajama top, anchoring herself to the brunette.

"No, dear. They said to keep her. Apparently she's been a handful since they left us. I can't believe any parents would not be frantic in worry that their baby just disappears in the middle of the night or that they don't want her back, but I remember it's Snow and the shepherd. "

"Belle said that Ruby went to visit David one day to bring in a stray kitten from the alley behind the diner and found Emma in her carrier completely soiled, David nowhere around. They go out a lot without a nanny or babysitter at home to watch her. They're such idiots. Why have this precious miracle if you're not going to take care of her properly?"

"I don't know sweetheart, but perhaps we could get them to let us watch her. At least during the day? Lily seems to adore Emma. David said that Emma doesn't get on with most people, yet look how happy she is with us. We can make sure she's well taken care of and loved while with us."

"Definitely! I'd love to have her in the office with us. A dirty animal shelter is no place for a baby!"

"They're idiots, my love. Just think how cute it could be to dress them the same. They could be mini twins! We could all dress the same and it'd be so cute! Mommies and minis."

Regina laughed. "Perhaps just alone. We don't want rumours flying around or Snow taking away Emma permanently. She hasn't even agreed yet. I would love to get to do things together the four of us, but we need to secure a spot in her life before we run off and play happy family with Emma."

They both looked down at the baby, who had finished the bottle and was trying to attach her mouth to Regina's breast. Brown eyes nervously shot to her wife before looking down at Emma again, softly stroking the girl's cheek, causing Emma to turn to try and seek out the object.

Mal poofed a pacifier into her hand before handing it to Regina. "Shame that Snow chose not to breastfeed. This little one seems like she'd be a natural at it. Even hiring a wet nurse like back home might make Emma a bit happier."

Both women watched the babe's eyes slowly droop, trying to fight off sleep. The pacifier popped out of Emma's mouth once, waking her, until Regina used a single finger to hold the pacifier in place. Regina let Mal hold her a bit once Emma was asleep before they placed her in the crib next to Lily to sleep until the next feeding.

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Mal had to magic Emma's carrier and an outfit to her in the morning. Both she and Regina had had to get up once after putting Emma to sleep in the crib. The little blonde had surprised Mal by crying harder when she had tried to attend to her as she fed Lily, not calming until Regina had come into the room to find out what was wrong. It'd hurt Mal's feelings a little, but it was nice to see a little one bonding so strongly to Regina. Lily loved Regina, but the older she grew, the more it seemed she had a preference for her blonde mother. Emma preferring Regina was sweet karma.

Lily was with Regina today. Mal had seen how upset her wife was after saying her goodbyes to Emma, so she'd given up her normal day with Lily so that Regina wouldn't be alone. Emma had cried the second Regina had poofed herself and Lily out of the room. Now, standing in her office with the little one, she was equally as reluctant and upset to let her go. She took Emma out of her carrier and held her close, the crying quieting down immediately.

Snow found Maleficent holding Emma as the little one happily played with the necklaces around the woman's neck. The circle pendant was in Emma's mouth. Snow growled and practically yanked Emma away, startling both the infant and Maleficent.

"She could choke on that! What are you thinking?" Snow shouted, ignoring Emma's shrieking.

Maleficent picked up the broken necklace off the ground and magicked the string back together, trying to maintain her calm for Emma. "It's a teething necklace. It's far too big for a little one to swallow. Lily likes holding onto it when I feed her. It's perfectly safe for them to play with."

"I don't let her put anything in her mouth besides her bottles. She doesn't feed well, and I'm not going to confuse her with things that don't belong there."

"Babies learn by putting things in their mouths. You're stifling her growth. She did fine with a soother last night and she ate like a pro."

Snow's eyes went wide. "You fed her?! I'm not paying for the laundry on your sheets if she got sick."

"Emma was fine. She didn't get sick at all. We even fed her this morning. Perhaps you should hire a wet nurse or something if your powdered way isn't working. Is that why she's so light?"

"She's fine! The doctor gives her fluid bags if things get really bad. This land doesn't have wet nurses here. Emma will be just fine. She's been learning to eat fruit purees. Her favourite is the apple one at Jack & Jill Boutique Baby."

Mal tried not to laugh. She knew that Regina made the applesauce and apple purees that Jack sold at her store. "If you'd like, I can give you the extra I pump for Lily. Emma seems to do well on it, and it saves you trying to have her get nutrients from rice and soy."

The brunette's nose wrinkled in distaste before staring down at her screaming baby who was reaching for Maleficent.

"Look, I am not trying to overstep here, but Emma deserves some food she can handle. Lily loves her, and I don't want to bind her powers, so I'm sure Emma is bound to be over at our house in the middle of the night again. At least when she's with us, let us feed her."

A malicious smirk grew on Snow's face. Mal was focused on a distraught Emma and missed it completely. "So long as Emma isn't spending every night with you, fine. If she keeps something down, you might as well feed her when she's with you. It's the least you could do."

The blonde let Snow's rudeness roll off her back. The woman had agreed to let Emma spend some nights with them. It was a start. Quietly, Mal magicked a pacifier to Emma. It broke her heart to see the little one so upset. Snow was doing nothing to try and comfort her.

"Regina and I were wondering if you and David might agree to letting us watch her sometimes while you're both working. I mean a day or two if you wanted? You could save on daycare. Lily loves being around Emma. I know she'd love being around Emma more."

"They see each other at yoga and music movers. Lily abducts her in the middle of the night now. How much time do you think you can have? She's _mine!"_

Mal held up her hands and shook her head no. "I know, and we're not trying to take her. We just figured free daycare and socializing would be better than shelling out hundreds of dollars a week for daycare. She's still going home with you and spending afternoons, nights, and weekends with you. We thought maybe a day or two a week and see how it goes? If you're not happy, you're welcome to put Emma back in daycare or whatever."

"I'll discuss it with David, but a day or two a week might be fine. Emma learns to socialize a bit, and she gets food in the process. So long as you recognize she is _mine,_ I guess it wouldn't hurt to have a trial go."

Snow grabbed the carrier and stormed out of the office with Emma. Mal couldn't help do a happy dance before pulling out her phone and calling Regina to tell her the good news.

Regina had been trying to soothe Lily, who had started sobbing uncontrollably twenty minutes ago, only settling down once she'd found a pacifier that she liked. It was odd, but the brunette had shrugged it off as a baby thing. They were both miserable at having to leave Emma. She hadn't gotten much paperwork done, much of anything done at all since getting to her office. She'd made her secretary rearrange her meetings. Lily had simply snuggled up to Regina and refused to let go.

Mal called to tell them that Snow agreed to both letting them watch Emma a day or two a week on trial and to letting Emma spend some nights with Lily. It was more progress than they'd hoped for. It made both mothers pause to question why, but they were getting time with Emma. They were ecstatic. Lily's gummy smile and happy shrieks indicated to Regina that she was all for it too.

Across town at the pawn shop, Rumple was watching the scene through his crystal orb. He'd manipulated Snow into agreeing to let the mothers spend time with their daughter. It wasn't fixing the problem he'd caused, but it was a step towards it.


	4. Chapter 4

Snow bristled. Rumple had forced her hand and she didn't know why. The last thing she had wanted to do was give Maleficent and Regina more time with Emma. She gathered up Emma as soon as the bell rang, fully intending to storm Rumple's shop to demand answers. Her ire flared further when Belle told her that Rumple wasn't in today, and that she needed to leave.

It turned out that allowing Regina or Mal to watch Emma a day or two a week worked out in her favour. The town started to come around a bit, at least to see Emma, which meant they at least had to talk to Snow. Regina and Mal seemed a bit friendlier to her. Charming seemed in a better mood too. Even Emma seemed happier in the month she'd first agreed to these visits.

The brunette took the weekend to just be by herself with Emma, sending David off to do the errands. Snow had taken Emma to the park, and out to the garden while she planted her remaining seeds. Thanks to Maleficent giving her drop-ins of milk, Emma was starting to gain weight and hold down her food. She'd taken a bath while Emma napped. Both ladies were currently in front of the TV, on the couch.

A Pup Named Scooby Doo entertained Emma to no end for some reason. The little one smiled at the TV and babbled at it Snow had no idea what she was seeing, but the show was kind of cute. Snow thought an hour of this cartoon was enough, and switched to Animal Planet. Ear shattering shrieks had her quickly changing the channel back.

An hour later, Snow felt someone staring at her. Looking down, green eyes met bright blue. Emma was staring at her. If Emma had been older, Snow would have said her baby was studying her, but she was just a _baby_. A gummy smile broke out on the little one's face as she elicited a happy shriek and her whole body flailed about, reaching for her.

Emma was finally happy to see her? Snow didn't know if it was the cartoon or if it was the good day, if it was being able to see Regina and Mal more, or maybe Emma was finally warming up to her. Whatever the reason Emma was happy with her, she wasn't going to squander it. She scooped Emma up from the couch and set her in her lap.

"Hello my pretty girl! Mommy is so happy you're in a good mood! Perhaps you'll sleep for me tonight, hmm?"

Emma giggled at her and grabbed a fistful of hair, yanking hard.

Snow winced and tried to disentangle the little fist. "Should I take this as a no?"

She got one fist free only to have the other one grab a handful on the other side and jerk towards the baby, Emma full smiles and happy shrieks now.

Emma leaned forward and placed open mouthed, slobbery attempts at kisses on Snow's face until she reached the woman's nose. Snow didn't think anything of it, reveling in what she thought were kisses. At least, that was until two sharp teeth sunk into the tip of her nose. Instantly Snow remembered Emma was teething, and motherfucker did it hurt!

Snow got Emma away from her face and dodged another kiss attempt. She could feel blood drip from her nose as drool dried on her cheeks. She was wholly unprepared for the double fists that yanked her hair hard enough to rip some out, causing her forehead to jerk forward. Emma was leaning in to try and slobber kiss on her again, causing a hard, little baby headbutt to her mouth, splitting her bottom lip.

It took ten minutes to clean her face of the blood, but Emma had held her death grip fist in Snow's hair. Emma wouldn't even let go when Snow gave her a bath and dressed her in jammies. The unintentional abuse was all worth it though when Emma laid her head on Snow's shoulder and wrapped her little arm around the brunette's neck, falling asleep on her as Snow fed her a bottle. This was the first time Emma happily fell asleep on her.

In that moment, Snow knew that whatever Emma put her through, whatever she'd done in her past, it was all worth it to have this precious angel, _her daughter_ , finally adoring her completely like this. Her heart was finally softening, warming and growing. It was like the Grinch when he finally found and accepted love.

Charming came home to find his wife half asleep on the couch, Emma asleep on her chest, empty bottle hanging loosely from one of Emma's tiny hands. It was so adorable. Emma was finally making Snow happy. His wife was finally getting what she had wanted all along. Smiling at them both, he lifted both up and carried them to the bedroom.

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Regina and Maleficent honestly loved getting Emma a few days a week. It'd been a month, and the growth in the little blonde was tremendous. She no longer felt lighter than air thanks to Maleficent agreeing to act as nursemaid to the little one. Emma seemed a lot happier now that she wasn't stuck in the animal shelter office all day. She was always smiling and energetic with Regina and Mal.

Lily was happier having Emma around too. They babbled at each other nonstop. They sat in their Hugaboo support seats playing, well throwing their toys to one another. Both little ones had started to teeth, so they were constantly drooling. When they were close enough to be touching, the girls loved leaning over and planting open mouthed kisses on one another. Mal and Regina thought it was the cutest thing. They had started dressing them the same when they were together.

The girls were alike in a lot of ways, and completely different in others. Both seemed to love anything giraffe. Somehow they just knew if you wrapped them in anything but their hooded giraffe towels. If it wasn't Sophie, they threw all teething toys as far as their little arms could. Emma was quieter than Lily. Lily liked green whereas Emma liked purples. Emma liked to be held constantly by Regina and Mal, whereas Lily was happy trying to explore on her own.

Regina and Mal had hired a hospital nurse to come help them babyproof the house. The way the babies wriggled around, they both bet crawling wasn't far off. Hopefully the crawling stayed in the playpens, that Lily wouldn't use magic to get around outside the safety of the pen.

The girls had started a bit on purees. Regina and Mal had quickly learned the benefit of the Boon squirt spoon that housed the food and allowed you to control the mess somewhat. Trying to feed one baby was difficult enough, but two was always a chore. Lily liked any food that wasn't green. Emma liked sweet potatoes and bananas, pretty much any fruit as well. She didn't seem to mind vegetables either. Both girls loved applesauce or anything paired with apples.

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Storybrooke Prep had off school. The teachers were all taking a service day to prepare for exams and determine which students were moving on. It meant Mal and all the teachers, including Snow were going to be locked away all weekend. It's normally just at the school, but the board had voted this year to be shut in at Granny's Inn. Regina knew that meant do not disturb unless under death threat.

Regina was going to be alone all weekend with Lily. This was the first extended period of time she'd be without Mal since Lily was born. She was nervous as hell. Lily preferred her wife. How was she going to go three days without seeing her? They'd never been away from Lily, ever.

Maleficent had made sure to leave enough milk in the freezer for Lily. She's sent what extra she had over to David for Emma. It was easy to see worry in brown eyes as Mal packed her bags. Regina only grew more anxious as it came time to leave.

"Darling, I'll be right up the road. I'm sure you can handle it, but you can always text me. I'll call you before bed and when I wake up. You're going to be just fine."

The blonde's heart was breaking, despite her reassurances to her wife. She didn't want to leave them. They'd never been apart more than a few hours. Three days was going to feel like a lifetime. Even if she was just going to be doing paperwork for three days just ten minutes from her little family, it felt like she was going away for an eternity.

After endless kisses to both Lily and Regina, she finally took herself to her room at the inn, leaving Regina alone with Lily.

The first day was okay. Regina really enjoyed having Lily all to herself. It was nice to finally have Lily's sole focus and attention on her. Her wife usually was the one Lily calmed best for, behaved best for. Lily loved Regina, of that, she was certain, but she wasn't normally Lily's first choice, so this time alone was fabulous.

The second day Lily woke up crabby. Regina wondered if it was a teething issue, a missing mama issue, or the fact that Emma wasn't with her last night. For the past month, three or four nights a week Regina or Mal would go check on Lily to find Emma with her. Snow and David didn't seem to mind, and neither woman was going to look that gift horse in the mouth.

She's called Mal and let Lily hear her voice. She'd tried baby Orajel and massaging her gums. She'd tried tummy time and Sprout cartoons. She tried the dragon lovie and a bath. Nothing was working. Lunch seemed to help a bit, but not much. Perhaps David would let them see Emma for a bit.

Regina had just gotten everything ready to leave the house to visit the Charmings when a frantic knock sounded at the door. Lily was fussing in her carrier. This was so not what she needed right now. She flung open the door, fully expecting to ream out whoever it was only to find David standing there looking out of sorts, holding Emma's carrier and bag.

"David? We were just coming to see Emma."

The man stormed past her into the house, setting down Emma's carrier next to Lily's along with a small duffel bag. Regina eyed him warily, eyebrow raised in question.

"Perhaps you are confused, but this is my house. Is there something I can do for you?"

David ran a hand through short blonde hair before staring at his daughter's carrier in a mix of exasperation and angry glare.

"She won't settle. Normally she adores me. Snow is the one that gets Emma's unhappy moods. I have tried everything. I can't go give her to Snow, so I need you to take her for a while. She's been mad at me for two days."

"You let her be unhappy for two days. Did you take her to a doctor to see if anything was wrong?"

"Well, no. She's not running a high fever. Dr. Prescott said it's normal for teething to cause a slight fever and to give her a tiny bit of Tylenol. Emma is just in a mood. I expected this at thirteen, not seven months."

Regina chuckled and squatted down to look at both babies. Emma broke away from her staring contest with Lily to smile up at her.

"She seems fine now. How long did you want me to watch her?"

David the decency to look sheepish as he backed towards the door. "I haven't had any time with Snow since Emma came. You could just bring her to Snow Monday morning."

Brown eyes widened in surprise. "Parenting isn't selective, David. You can't only take the good times. This isn't like one of the shelter animals you can give away at the challenges. Emma needs unconditional love and care."

"You don't understand! She…"

"Emma what, David?"

"She bit me! Hard enough to bleed and need gauze! I swear she's part vampire or something. Since getting her teeth, Emma has taken great joy in biting me and Snow, anyone really who gets too close to her mouth. I've had a day and a half of screaming and biting. I can't do it anymore right now. Please, just watch her until Snow comes back."

Regina smiled down at the little blonde who returned the smile with one of her own before looking over at Lily. She felt proud this little one was getting her shots in on those two idiots.

"Emma has never bitten either me or Mal. They're baby teeth, David. You deal with pests of all kind day in and day out. You're telling me two tiny baby teeth are your downfall?"

The babies giggled and reached out for her.

"Whatever, Regina. That's my cue. Bye."

Regina watched the shepherd run out the door before scooping Emma and Lily out of the carriers and settled them in her lap on the couch. Both little ones seemed much happier being around one another. Perhaps they'd remain happy.

The reality of two babies at once all alone set in around dinnertime. Both wanted her undivided attention which caused preparing bottles with a bit of cereal in it to take longer. Feeding also took longer, since both wanted to be held as they ate.

She'd never bathed the girls together. It certainly was a new experience. Regina thanked modern technology for the idea to put the girls in a laundry basket to keep them and their toys in one place without worry they'd slip and hurt themselves.

Regina tried putting the girls to bed one at a time, but neither was allowing that if the howling screams of protest were anything to go by. She settled for moving them to her bed, holding both after she changed into pajamas. Emma and Lily fell asleep, matching pajamas and pacifiers, holding hands as they had their little heads on her chest. Using magic, she took a few pictures on her phone and sent them to Mal.

The morning proved more challenging than Regina had ever imagined. The girls were up at quarter to five, crawling all over her. Lily was chewing on the collar of her silk pajamas. Emma was bouncing on her, knees digging into her stomach and hands pushing on her chest. Regina would have adored it had it not been the ass crack of dawn.

Her heart dropped when there was only one bottle in the fridge. David had only sent one bottle with Emma. She supposed she should have felt lucky he'd sent that, but right now she was too busy cursing him as amplified wails of protest came from Lily's room.

Shit! Shit! Shit! Regina scrambled for her phone and tried to call her wife. Maybe she could just poof what she'd been pumping this weekend to her. Maleficent had placed it out just right so that both Emma and Lily would have exactly what they would need while she was gone.

The phone rang and rang, finally getting the answering machine. Quickly throwing a protection spell around the crib, Regina poofed herself to the Charming's apartment. There was no answer to the frantic knocking so she poofed in.

Regina found David and Leroy passed out on the floor of the living room, empty bottles of alcohol strewn all over. She searched the fridge and freezer for the bottles, coming up empty. Regina nudged David with her heel to wake him up. When that failed she delivered a swift kick to his shin that bolted him upright.

"R'Gina? What you doin?"

"I want to know why the drop-in bags for Emma's bottles are all empty. Mal gave you enough for this weekend. Where'd the milk go?"

"Milk? Ohhh, that was Emma's? No wonder it tasted weird. Stuff made me sick."

Regina cuffed him upside the head. "Idiot! I've nothing to feed your daughter now! My wife is locked in that stupid Inn for another six hours. I've nothing to feed her and she does not want food. I've tried six different jars! This is all your fault!"

David flopped back down with a shrug, falling asleep again leaving Regina to poof back to the house. Lily got the bottle. She felt so bad for Emma, but it _was_ Lily's. She rocked Emma and tried to soothe the upset little one as she frantically searched through spellbooks to see if there was anything that could help.

Lily peered at them from her Hugaboo. Brown eyes trained on tear filled green ones. Regina was shocked when white light burst forth from her daughter and dropped a book at her feet, its pages flipping until it rested on a page.

Looking down, Regina gasped at the spell. She had tried this once with Lily, but her little one just wasn't having it. Was it wrong to do this with another child? If Lily was suggesting it though, perhaps it was okay.

Maleficent poofed to her house a little after nine. She just couldn't bear to be away from her girls anymore. She was surprised to find Regina on the couch with Lily _and_ Emma. She certainly hadn't expected to find her wife with Lily being fed a bottle next to her while Regina had Emma to her breast.

"Darling, what are you doing?"

Regina's shoulders slumped a little, staring guiltily into amused blue eyes.

"David came yesterday after lunch and left Emma here because he couldn't tough it out. She loves to bite them. I found great joy in it. He left me no bottles, and I ran out of bottles. He wasted all her milk. I called you! I did! Lily is the one who used magic to show me this spell. I'm sorry!"

Regina rushed through everything in such a frantic one-breath rush that Mal almost missed what she'd said. She walked over and ran a hand through Regina's curls before leaning down to kiss her wife.

"Calm yourself, love. It's okay. Lily is happy. Emma is happy. You did what you needed to do. So...you had Emma for a day and a half by yourself? How'd having two all day go?"

"They love each other so much! Lily was having an awful day until Emma came over. By David's account, he let her be miserable for two days. They've been fine together ever since. I may have a few grey hairs now, but aside from the disaster a few hours ago of no food, it has been good."

"Does this mean we could have another baby?"

Brown eyes widened and jolted up from staring at Emma.

"Ask me when Lily is two. I only had two days with both of them alone. I think we could probably get away with asking for more time with Emma, or offering them date night a day a week or something where we have her twenty four hours straight."

Mal scooped up Lily and her bottle, leaving Regina to hold Emma. She knew firsthand what a bonding experience feeding was, and wanted her wife to get all she could out of it.

They fed the girls in silence for a while. Regina stared down at Emma, remembering the first time she'd fed Emma a bottle. Emma's little hand was on her chest again and she ate with no less vigour than the first time. Green eyes locked onto brown as the other little hand reached up and secured itself around an errant curly lock.

"So, what happened that David had no milk for her?" Mal finally broke her reverie from watching Lily slowly eat her bottle to glance over at her wife. She just looked so good, so right, feeding a child like that.

"He was trashed, passed out on the floor next to Leroy. Apparently they drank it or used it to mix drinks. He said it made him sick. Idiot."

"No one ever said they were smart or good parents. I think Emma finally broke through to Snow though. She seemed happier this weekend, and actually expressed worry about Emma."

Regina nodded, staring back down at Emma. She was always amazed at the pull she felt towards this little one, how close she always felt to Emma. Hopefully they'd get more time together since this weekend went so well.

"You should keep the spell. It'd help me out trying to keep up with both girls, and we'd never run into this crisis again."

Mal and Regina placed the girls in the playpen once they were done eating, laying back together on the couch to watch them try and scoot around, babbling together. They reveled in how amazing these little ones were together. Sure, Lily got on with other babies, but none as well as Emma. Both Regina and Mal connected so well to Emma too, more than any other unrelated little one.

Regina let Mal take over bathing the girls once it was bedtime. Lily and Emma had tired themselves out crawling all over the house. For the first time, Lily chose Regina to feed her dinner, little arms reaching for her instead of her blonde mother. Pride bloomed in Regina's chest as she scooped up Lily, leaving Mal to feed Emma.

The blonde was just as mesmerized with Emma as her wife was. Emma ate entirely different than Lily. Her daughter tended to fall asleep quickly when eating, eliminating the bonding through intense baby stare Emma was doing. Lily ate slowly, needing lots of encouragement, while Emma guzzled like her this was her last meal. Emma seemed to need both hands touching the person feeding her, while Lily seemed to prefer holding a teething ring or toy.

Mal smiled down at Emma as the little one fought sleep, blinking rapidly to try and keep up eye contact. She stroked the little blonde's cheek lovingly. "Go to sleep, princess. I'll still be here in the morning."

"She's wonderful, isn't she?" Regina came to stand beside her wife, having put a soundly sleeping Lily into her crib a few minutes ago.

Both women stared down at Emma, the girl rapidly losing the battle to stay awake. Emma filled something in their hearts they didn't even know they were missing. They'd definitely have to ask for more time with this angel.

 **DQDQDQDQ**

Rumple was eating lunch at Granny's with Belle when he heard that this weekend was the one all school staff holed up and prepared for end of term. He grabbed Ruby's wrist as she moved to pass by to the kitchen.

"Miss Lucas, are all the teachers at the inn?"

The brunette looked at him skeptically. "Yes, why?"

"Even Snow?"

"Yeah, she's there. What's it to you?"

"I'm concerned for Emma. The shepherd leaves her all day in that car seat, sometimes unattended. I ask for the safety of the baby." He rubbed his palm as though it hurt.

Ruby eyed him warily, glancing at Belle who just shrugged.

"Charming has her. He was out last night at the Rabbit Hole with the dwarfs. Maybe he got a sitter."

Rumple didn't even wait for his food to come. He kissed his wife, and took off for the Charming residence. The door was locked, no one answering, so he poofed in. His jaw dropped as he took in the trashed apartment. Empty alcohol bottles, empty paper plates, and half eaten food littered the apartment. It looked like the morning after at a frat house. In the middle of the room, half under the coffee table was a passed out David who was wearing only boxer shorts. Leroy was half on, half off the couch, equally unconscious. The short man almost looked like he was praying. Rumple hoped it was for some dignity.

He was poofed to Emma's room upstairs only to find it empty. He tore apart the rest of the apartment coming up sans baby. He was just about to wake Charming when the front door opened, revealing the Dark Princess. Ooh this was going to be good!

Snow had left the lock in just after noon, eager to get home to her baby. She'd missed Emma terribly while gone. She'd had a lot of time to think at the inn, and had decided Emma was exactly what she wanted, needed. Being a mommy made her happy. It was no longer about revenge, well not solely revenge. She could kill two birds in one stone wanting to really be Emma's mommy and still rub it in their faces. She couldn't wait to see Emma again, to kiss her little face.

Seeing her apartment in such disaster had her reeling. She spied Rumple and gazed at him questioningly. Rumple simply pointed to a near naked David and Leroy.

"Emma?"

"Not here. I just came to check on her. I know as much as you, dearie." Rumple gave a nonchalant shrug and nudged his cane at the sleeping shepherd.

Snow quickly surveyed the state of her apartment before zeroing in on the plastic drop-in bags ripped open and empty next to a half drunk bottle of whiskey. Her anger rose. He'd sent her baby god knows where to get wasted, and taken her food from her. He couldn't even be a father for a few days without her.

"DAVID FINLEY NOLAN!"


	5. Chapter 5

" _DAVID FINLEY NOLAN!"_

Snow's shouting jolted both men awake. Leroy looked around confused until he saw a fuming Snow. Grabbing his hat off the floor, he scamped out of the apartment as fast as he could, leaving David to deal with it all.

David rubbed his head, having smacked it against the corner of the table as he was rudely awakened. Slowly he pulled himself into a sitting position.

"Hey, honey."

"Don't 'hey honey' me! What the hell did you do to our home? Where is my daughter?"

"Calm down! I had a little fun with the guys last night. Emma was too much so I gave her to Regina to watch. You'll get her back tomorrow. It's no big deal."

Green eyes went wide before narrowing in on him.

"No big deal? No big deal! You seriously think this no big deal?"

David eyed her like Snow was about to attack him. Snow felt like dragging him by the ear and spot cleaning every inch of the apartment before going to get her baby.

"You shoved off our daughter on someone else to get blind drunk! Do you really not think that's a big deal?"

"She wouldn't stop crying. I couldn't take it anymore. Regina was cool with it. I dropped her off and left. The guys took me out for some fun. Why are you so upset?"

Rumple chuckled at how moronic the shepherd was, earning him a glare from both Snow and David.

"David, honestly, we are parents now. Emma is not some toy you can give back or give away whenever she's upset. You're no longer free to do whatever you want. I left you in charge of our daughter and I expected you to take care of her. It wasn't that hard a task. Wait, did you say you dropped her off and left? Did Regina say she'd watch her?"

The blonde man shrugged and stood up slowly. "I dunno. I took her in, set her down, and left. Regina likes Emma. There's no problem."

"No problem? No problem! Charming! You dumped our daughter off at someone else's house without even asking them if they could watch her. Regina is alone with Lily this weekend. You just dropped Emma off to act like a teenager at a house party? Do you even care about Emma?"

"Regina had Lily. That's exactly _why_ I left Emma there. She was already taking care of one baby. What is the difference if Emma is there too or not? She poofs herself there every night anyways. Emma makes _you_ happy. When you're happy, I win."

Snow glared at him. "You're honestly the stupidest man I've ever met! What happens if Regina can't handle both girls by herself for two days? You're the most irresponsible, idiotic man child I have ever met!"

"Whoa! You're overreacting. Just calm down. Regina has magic. It's fine."

Rumple backed away. You _never ever_ told a woman she was overreacting. He was the Dark One and even he knew better.

"Overreacting? I'll show you overreacting, David! I spent the entire long weekend busting my ass to get my paperwork and grading done. I have been miserable being away from Emma. All I wanted to do was come home and snuggle my baby, maybe have a family night watching a movie together on the couch. You can't even handle your daughter for a few days, yet you can manage to drink our entire liquor cabinet dry with your buddies. This is not what a good parent does. You're so lucky Regina takes proper care of Emma. Do you have any idea what could have happened if she was here? Do you even care?"

David held up his hands. "Look, Emma makes _you_ happy. You've changed this past month or so. You've been happier, friendlier. If a baby makes you that way, I'll roll with it. I just thought this was a temporary thing, though. We didn't even talk about having Emma for good."

"I've changed my mind, Charming. Emma is _my_ daughter! She knows no different. I love her, a hell of a lot more than I love you right now. If you can't get on board with this then you need to pack your things and get out!"

"Snow! Come on! You can't be serious."

"You abandoned our daughter, an infant as helpless as the strays you bring to the shelter, in order to drink yourself sick. I just spent three days busting my ass to come home to my child that isn't even here only to find my home destroyed. I now have to spend the rest of my weekend cleaning it up without Emma. I'm so beyond serious."

"Two and a half days," he muttered as he scooped up a shirt to put on.

"Excuse you?"

"I said technically it's been two and a half days."

"You know what? Just get dressed and get out. I can't even look at you right now."

"Snow!"

"Out, Charming! Until you're ready to accept your role as a responsible husband and father, you need to get out!"

Snow slammed the door after Charming walked out, sliding the locks closed. Sighing, she turned around to survey the mess again. Rumple giggled at her.

"Not in the mood for your shit either! What do you want?"

"To talk, dearie. See, you and I, we have a lot to talk about."

"What could we have to talk about?"

"She's about seven months old, newest hobby is biting, currently absent from your home."

Snow's gaze narrowed dangerously, a growl erupting from her chest. "Don't push me, imp! I know how to roast you alive."

"I'd at least wait to hear what I have to say. I'd hate for you to become the new Dark One and _still_ lose your daughter."

"I haven't lost Emma. David is just an idiot."

"Yes, but he's an honest idiot. Perhaps he'd feel more like a daddy if the babe shared his blood."

"Leave Emma alone! She's mine! Get out of my home! I've a lot to clean, and I'm in absolutely no mood for you!"

Rumple flicked his wrist and the apartment was cleaner than it'd ever been.

"All your woodland creatures can't even get a clean like this, dearie. Perhaps you'll listen to me now? We have a mutual problem with our pint sized vampire."

"What's wrong with Emma?"

He gestured to the couch. "Won't even offer me tea? This could take a while, and I am a guest. Your mother taught you manners, yes?"

Snow bristled, turning the kettle on, before following Rumple to the couch.

"What is it? Spit it out. I don't want to have you here all day."

"Our vampire has magic."

"We know that. This isn't a new thing here. She poofs almost nightly to be with Lily. It's a wonder they haven't figured out it's Emma doing the magic, not Lily."

"They soon will. Emma's powers are growing. She attacked me when I last saw her. She is becoming more aware and growing into her powers. This means you're in danger of having your dirty little secret spilled."

"Me? I'm so not alone in this! _You_ stole Emma from them. _Your_ magic did that. If I'm going down, so are you. What do you mean she attacked you? Why were you around her?"

"I came to check on her. Your charming husband sits her carrier on the reception desk all day and leaves her alone. I was merely checking up on her welfare."

"What did you do to her?"

"Not I, dearie. Emma used her magic. She formed a very powerful protective shield around herself. When I tried to come nearer, the girl blasted me backwards. Ripped apart my palm when it touched the shield. Belle had to mend my wounds for days."

"So, perhaps you shouldn't be touching little girls."

Rumple narrowed his eyes. "Her powers are growing. She can sense me or my magic enough to know she doesn't like it. I've not gone near her since she was a newborn, and yet she felt threatened enough to attack me."

"That means what?"

"That means it's only a matter of time before Emma starts to make her magic known to Regina and Maleficent. They never stopped to question it, but dragon milk cannot be tolerated by anyone not at least part dragon. They feel strongly connected to Emma. If they see her use magic, they'll realize Emma is theirs rather quickly. Gone will be your daughter, your happiness. They'll probably kill you."

"They'll punish you, too! How do we stop her magic then? What do we do?"

"You don't stop magic, dearie. Emma is made of magic. You'd be killing her if you tried to bind it. I suggest you make nice with her mommies. A happy baby means less magical slipups. Your secret is safe so long as Emma doesn't reveal her true identity. You and I are only safe so long as Emma is kept quiet."

Snow groaned. The last thing she wanted to do was make nice with Regina and Maleficent. That was going to mean sacrificing more time with Emma. Now that she realized she truly wanted a daughter, not just a revenge tactic, sacrificing time with her daughter was not on her agenda.

 **DQDQDQDQDQ**

Snow's phone beeped Monday afternoon. She'd been anxiously awaiting Emma's arrival at school that morning, but Maleficent had told her that Emma was with Lily at Regina's office. All she wanted was her baby back.

'Come to Granny's. Ten minutes.'

She double checked the message and saw it was from Regina. Finally! Emma was coming back to her!

The brunette rushed to get her things together before taking off for the diner. Snow found Mal and Regina in a booth with the girls. She wasted no time sliding into the booth across from them.

"Snow, nice of you to join us. Was there traffic on the sidewalk?"

Green eyes cut at Regina as she reached for Emma. Emma had other ideas though and leaned forward with her mouth, bottom teeth fully on display.

"I don't think she's very happy with you right now." Mal pulled Emma back a bit from Snow's hand and popped a pacifier in her mouth.

"Emma is going through a biting phase at the moment. It's not just me."

"She hasn't bitten me. We had a fabulous weekend after your husband unceremoniously dumped her on my couch and ran."

"He was an idiot. I apologize for him. I'll take my daughter back now."

"Emma is fine with Mal right now. We would like to talk about something David said before he left my house."

Snow wanted to reach out and snatch Emma back, but Rumple's words played through her head and she bit the inside of her cheek, trying to wait patiently.

"What'd he say?"

"David said I could keep Emma because you two haven't had alone time since she was born and he, well he implied that you two needed to be alone."

"He said _what?!_ I'm going to kill him! The nerve." Snow had half a mind to go find her husband and use him as target practice.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of. We're adults who have needs. It just got us wondering."

"Wondering what, Maleficent?"

"If you didn't interrupt, I was getting to it. Regina and I were wondering if we could watch Emma for a whole day. You could drop her off like normal, but instead of picking her up after school you could go on a date with your husband or just have some alone time to relax by yourself? We'd bring Emma back in the morning."

Snow absolutely wanted to refuse. She already felt like she was allowing them too much time.

' _She is becoming more aware and growing into her powers. This means you're in danger of having your dirty little secret spilled.'_

"How often are you thinking this little arrangement occurs? Once a week? Every other week? Once a month?"

Regina looked at her wife. This was going better than she expected.

"We were hoping for once a week or once every other week. Emma and Lily get along well. She's with us most nights anyways. It's really only a matter of a few extra hours a day."

"A few extra hours you're taking me away from _my_ child."

"It also allows you to unwind a bit and refresh. It's going to keep David from pulling a frat party and nearly endangering Emma again. Happy men do not get blackout drunk."

Snow glared at them. "What about you and Regina? Are you going to let me watch Lily a night a week?"

"We'll see. Mal and I have other sitter arrangements. The girls have their Mommy and Me classes or we can arrange a playdate if you'd like to spend time with Lily."

Emma leaned forward and pushed on Mal's chest. It earned attention for all three women as Lily mimicked Emma.

Regina looked at Mal, at a loss for what to do in front of Snow. She could feed Lily if that's what she wanted, but it was probably overstepping if Mal fed Emma in front of Snow.

When Emma didn't get fed right away, she leaned forward and bit Mal's upper breast.

"Son of a bi -" Regina shot a warning glare at her wife. "biscuit! Son of a biscuit!"

"Ha! She's now bitten everyone but me! Emma favours me!"

Emma leant forward and leaned her head on Regina's shoulder.

Snow felt jealous and sad the instant she saw her baby give Regina affection. Emma never treated her that way, at least not without some form of violence. Maybe a full day wouldn't kill her if it kept Emma happy enough not to reveal her secret.

"Fine, one day every week or two. The play dates I am sure Emma would love. They can crawl around together and watch Sesame Street. We'll discuss it more later. Thank you for taking her this weekend. Does one of you have a bottle to feed Emma?"

"They're all frozen right now. It'd take a bit to warm up."

Snow eyed the four of them. "How exactly did you feed Emma this weekend? I saw the destroyed drop-ins from David."

Mal transferred Emma to Regina as she scooped up Lily.

"I had to use a temporary lactation spell. I was at a crossroads with no other option. I couldn't let Emma starve, and I didn't want her upset. I did what I had to do."

"You breastfed my daughter?"

Regina dared glance at Snow. She didn't seem angry, more incredulous than anything.

"I did. I have been since Lily showed me the spell. Mal has been gone, and it doesn't put such a strain on her trying to make enough for both girls."

"Emma doesn't bite you? She actually eats without getting sick? Why do you two get everything with _my_ daughter, and yet she hate me? _I_ am her mother."

"I'm sure it's not intentional, Snow. Emma is just a baby. I'm sure she'll come around as she grows up."

Snow huffed before scooping up Emma and her things before rushing out. She hated that despite everything, Regina somehow still won Emma over when she had tried everything and failed repeatedly. She was losing her daughter with or without giving them more time with her.

Mal and Regina watched as Snow disappeared with Emma out of the diner. They hadn't expected this to work at all. Now they were going to get a full day with Emma. Hopefully Snow would come up with the details soon! They couldn't wait to bond more with both girls! Lily and Emma were so cute together.

"I couldn't help but overhear. You give milk meant for a dragon to a human baby?"

Regina and Maleficent turned to look at the Blue faerie.

"It's none of your business."

"Something isn't right here, Mrs. Rose-Mills. A human shouldn't be able to tolerate dragon milk."

"That babe has tried every formula and combination under the sun. We tried for months before finding a soy mixture that she somewhat kept down. If those two can make something Emma doesn't get sick on, leave them be. Don't go meddling in other people's business."

Maleficent nodded in agreement. "Thank you, Granny."

"Something is off, here. Think about it." Blue left with those parting words, intending to get to the bottom of this mystery. Her prophecy had spoken of two babies born to Regina and Maleficent, yet they only had one. Snow's child should be able to hold down formula and get sick on dragon's milk, yet things were opposite. Things were incredibly odd indeed.

Regina glanced at her wife and noticed the troubled mask taking over her face. "Dear, what's wrong? The faerie doesn't know a thing. Don't let it bother you."

"She's right though, Regina. Dragon's milk is only meant for dragon offspring. It's much too strong for a human stomach. I didn't even think about that when we were feeding her. Something _is_ wrong here, and I just don't know what. There's no way to test a dragon stomach from a human one in a child. It's possible Snow had an affair with a shifter like me. David could be a carrier. No one really knows anything about his family. Until a baby dragon shifts for the first time, there's literally no way of knowing. There are so many possibilities, but Emma really shouldn't be able to drink my milk. It's the only thing she holds down."

"Calm yourself, Maleficent. Focus on one thing at a time. We are getting Emma more. We accomplished our goal this time. You just said there's a lot of possibilities about why Emma can handle the milk. While we have her, we can spend some time investigating and looking for answers. Later, the two of us should celebrate our accomplishment. Right now, our daughter needs food. Send some of the frozen drop-ins over to Snow's so she can feed Emma too. I can't believe this worked!"

Mal leaned over and kissed Regina. "Indeed it did! More time for all of us with Emma! I can't wait!"


	6. Chapter 6

"Come on, Emma. Say mama! Mama. Say mama."

Emma giggled from her spot on the floor, happily chewing on her foot.

Snow had been trying to the past week to get Emma to say mama after her daughter first started babbling for her bottle whenever she was hungry.

The doorbell rang right as Snow was sure Emma was going to say something. Cursing whoever it was, she placed Emma inside the playpen before opening the door.

"Charming?"

The man ran a hand through his hair before sheepishly glancing at Snow.

"Hey."

"Stop with the hey, Charming. I'm not a horse. What do you want?"

"I want to come home."

"Are you ready to be a father, an adult with responsibilities?"

Charming nodded. "I'm ready to try. I can't promise I'll be good at it."

Snow rolled her eyes.

"Honestly, Charming. No one is a good parent from the start. You make mistakes, but you learn. I was terrible for months, but I'm trying now. If you think you want back in this house, back with me, you're going to have to try harder."

Snow picked up Emma and sat her in her lap, staring into green eyes.

"Say mama, Emma. You can do it!"

Emma leaned forward and drooled all over Snow's cheek as she blew a raspberry.

"She can do that now?"

"Emma can do a lot of things now. She's babbling, almost talking. She can raise herself up on her hands and knees. She has favourite foods."

Snow was going to inform her husband of all he'd missed, but Emma decided raspberries were over, and it was time to bite. She got a mouthful of Snow's cheek and chomped down hard, her four little chipmunk teeth sinking into her skin.

"I'm really supposed to want this? I've had more injuries in my seven months being her father than I have my entire life. The animals don't even attack me this much. Hell, swords are easier to combat than her teeth."

"She's a baby, Charming. She's teething, and I'm sure it hurts. Biting is just a phase. Emma will grow out of it. Everything else she does, who she is, is worth it!"

"Worth it? Snow, she is not _our_ daughter. I don't know where you got her from, but she's not my blood. Who she is isn't a credit to us. It's a credit to her genetics."

Snow slapped him hard, leaving a red handprint in its wake.

"How dare you! Emma is mine! She's ours! We've raised her since she was born. She's ours! Who she is is because of us, not them!"

David sighed. He was realizing that if he wanted to be back with his wife, he'd have to try and fully accept this child that'd been thrown at him. He'd no idea how to be a father. This was supposed to have been about revenge on Regina somehow, but now his wife was in full mother mode. He wasn't sure he could do this, but it was scarier to deal with an angry Snow than it was to suck it up and try.

 **DQDQDQ**

Regina had Emma and Lily all day the first time Snow agreed to let them watch her a full day. She'd taken off work and everything.

Snow had become more attentive to Emma. Anyone with eyes or listening to town gossip knew the immediate change the Dark Princess had taken. It seemed like overnight Snow had become an overprotective helicopter mother. Her face and arms sported more battle wounds, but her overall demeanor seemed to become much warmer, a lot happier.

Emma had been going more days to Mommy & Me classes with Snow. The infant seemed a lot happier as well. David was surprisingly absent though. Rumour was that Snow had kicked him out. No one knew why, but he was supposedly staying with Abigail and Frederick. Regina knew one thing. Had Mal gone to stay with an woman she used to have an affair with, there'd be no way she'd be forgiven or taken back easily, if at all.

Regina had both girls on the living room floor, letting them try and roll around as they 'talked' to one another. She'd changed Emma into a lavender onesie and grey shorts to match Lily as soon as Snow left.

Looking at the girls together, she realized that the two _could_ pass for sisters. They had the same nose and mouth. If they had the same hair or eye colour, they really could be twins.

Lily was almost ready to crawl. She'd get up to her hands and knees and look ready to go, but instead of going forward, she started to move backwards. It really was going to be interesting to see what happened.

Emma rocked back and forth and seemed ready to start jetting off, but when the little blonde went to move, she'd fall forward. She got right back up and did it again, so it mustn't hurt to keep falling.

Regina was drinking tea and catching up on a few errant pieces of paperwork that needed to be filed tomorrow. She looked around quickly when Lily's babbling noises calmed down. Her daughter was underneath her sensory activity gym. Mal had insisted that Lily needed the playmat. Lily seemed to like it well enough. It kept her entertained for decent chunks of time.

Scanning the room, she noticed movement a few feet away across the floor. Looking down, Regina watched as Emma crawled across the carpet to her. Emma was moving quickly, reaching Regina's feet within a few seconds.

Emma grabbed onto Regina's pants and tried to pull herself up, but the little one wasn't quite strong enough yet. She was about to topple over and backwards into the table. Regina quickly scooped her up.

"You're so clever! I didn't even know you were coming over here! So good, Emma!"

She brought Emma in close and snuggled her, relishing that Emma had instinctively laid her head on her shoulder. Emma only did that to Regina. She loved it.

Green eyes stared into brown when Emma brought her forehead up to rest against Regina's, a little hand on her cheek.

"Mama."

Too stunned to say anything, Regina just gasped. Had she heard right? Did Emma just call her mama? Lily hadn't even started calling either her or Mal mama yet. She'd repeatedly babble mamamamama but had never distinctly called either of them mama.

Brows furrowing, Emma leaned back a little to search Regina's eyes for something.

"Mama!"

Tears flooded Regina's eyes as she smiled at the little one.

"I love you, Emma. You're the sweetest."

Mal came home that night and was surprised to find both Emma and Lily snuggled into Regina's arms as her wife read them a story off the iPad.

"Hello darling. Did you have a good day with the girls?"

"Yes. One of them is mobile now. We've been playing most the day."

"Mobile? One of the babies crawled? Who? Was it Lily? Emma? Who? Tell me!"

Regina laughed. "Well yes, dear. It has to be one of them. How about you put them on the floor and see which one goes?"

"They look comfortable. I don't want to start them crying."

Regina smiled, giving her wife a quick kiss before standing up and placing the girls on the floor and stepping back.

Mal watched as the girls stared at each other for a minute before Emma turned, locating Regina. Emma looked back at Lily, almost like she was seeking permission or giving some sort of affirmation before charging across the floor as Regina kept stepping back, encouraging the infant to keep crawling.

Emma stopped and pouted up at Regina after a few minutes of unsuccessfully trying to catch the woman.

"Mama!"

The older blonde froze, staring in shock at Emma.

"Did she just?"

"Call me mama? Yes. Surprised me at first too."

"When did this start?"

"Today, just after I first noticed her crawling. She is so cute, and I don't have the heart to tell her no."

"Snow is going to kill us."

"Snow will deal, Maleficent. It's not something I did on purpose. I'm sure Emma will call her that too if she hasn't already."

"If Emma had, we'd know. She enjoys bragging about all Emma's new things to us like it's a competition between Emma and Lily or she's trying to hurt us. I vote you encourage her to keep calling you mama."

Regina smirked. "My, my. You are in a feisty mood. I like it!"

 **DQDQDQ**

At nine months old, Snow was allowing all kinds of playdates. She was preferring the daytime playdates to the park or around town to letting Regina and Mal keep Emma a full day. Snow had wanted a spell placed over Emma's room to prevent midnight poofing, but Regina and Mal had refused. Rumple had refused. Snow had even tried Blue, but the faerie had flat out told her to forget she existed.

Charming had come around and tried for a little. He's taken an interest in Emma and seemed like he was trying. Snow asked about their time about and he mentioned something about staying with Whale. She hadn't wanted to know anymore. After a few weeks, Charming stopped trying though, and Snow was back to being constantly frustrated.

She was at the diner when the truth about where Charming had been came about. Ruby had bounced over with some hot chocolate and a cut up banana for Emma. The infant clapped happily in her highchair when the food was placed on her tray.

"I can't believe you took him back. If my boyfriend had been shacking up with the woman he had an affair with while masquerading as his twin with, I'd ditch his ass faster than he could blink."

All colour in Snow's face drained at the news.

"What? He said he stayed with Whale."

Ruby scoffed. "Yeah, if Whale suddenly became an attractive woman with an icy personality."

"He stayed with Abigail? David never told me he slept with her. I know George tried to force him to marry her, but he _chose_ me. David said nothing about sleeping with her."

"That's because he was pretending to be James at the time. He was James with her and David to you."

"How do you know?"

"I am a wolf. I could smell him and who he'd been with. Speaking of, Emma's magic. You want to explain that?"

"I'm sure she would, Red, but that'd mean acknowledging how she acquired her. Laws here don't much care for kidnapping."

The two brunettes turned to stare at Blue. Snow glared and Ruby's jaw dropped. She'd smelled Emma's magic early on, but hadn't the nerve to question why Lily and Emma's signatures were the same. Blue just confirmed to her that something shady happened.

Blue tried to approach Emma, but the baby shot up a protection bubble around herself.

Snow eyed Blue angrily. "Rumple says she only does that to people she feels threatened by. What did you do to her?"

The faerie backed up. Emma wasn't supposed to know her plans for her magic. This baby was beyond any measure she had encountered before. "I did nothing to her. Have a good day, Red."

Ruby watched Blue nearly sprint out the door.

"You said you smell things. Has she been around Emma?"

The wolf stepped closer to the infant, inhaling deeply.

"She's been near, smells like foreign magic. Maybe you should ask Regina for help in keeping her safe?"

"I am her mother. I can keep Emma safe!"

Snow gathered Emma and dropped her off with Mal. Right now she needed to deal with her husband. Later she'd hint about Blue wanting something from Emma.

Charming met Snow at the town line in the woods near the lake. He had no idea why his wife wanted to meet out there, but it couldn't be good. Snow didn't even give him a second to talk before she started in.

"Who did you really stay with? I know it wasn't Whale. Why are you lying to me? Abigail of all people? Really, Charming?"

David held his hands up.

"Whoa! Who told you?"

"It should have been _you!_ Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because you'd be like this. What is the problem with Abigail, I mean Kathryn?"

"The fact you slept with her and failed to tell me. Does Frederick know?"

David blanched. No one knew. Had Abigail said something? He'd been James with her. She couldn't have known.

Snow growled when he remained lost in his head.

"She meant nothing, honest."

"If she meant nothing to you, you'd have told me about her."

Snow shoved Charming hard. Her husband lost his balance from the unexpected whole body shove and stumbled backwards, falling over the town line. She could see Charming grow confused. Everyone knew if you crossed the town line you couldn't come back. No one had been stupid enough to try crossing yet, but now Snow knew it was true.

She went back to the Rose-Mills house and got Emma back, telling them that Blue was sniffing around Emma and had asked about Lily. No one liked the faeries. Hopefully Regina and Maleficent would take care of her without asking Blue anything.

 **DQDQDQ**

At eleven months Emma had jumped from being able to speak a few words to stringing together a few sentences. She was really bright girl. She was often quiet, but when she had something to say, she said it. Lily could and would talk your ear off all day if you let her. Eleven months was also when Emma started walking. Mal and Regina had Lily at the park with Snow and Emma. It was one of the last times that the girls could play at the park for the year. Lily had started walking last week, and Emma had been eagerly trying to imitate the other little girl.

Emma and Lily were crawling around the rubber floors of the playground. The women were talking, only half monitoring the girls. None saw the girls stand up and wobble slightly. No one noticed them charge over until Lily crashed into Mal. Emma stood on wobbly legs as Regina and Snow focused on her.

Snow smiled at Emma and held out her arms.

"There's my big girl! Walk to mama, baby!"

The little blonde gave a cheeky smile before toddling over to Regina, lifting her arms to be picked up.

Regina gave a second's hesitation before scooping the girl up into her lap.

"Great job, Emma! Soon you and Lily are going to conquer the world."

Snow bristled as her daughter gave yet another first to Regina. No matter what she did, Emma reserved most of her affection for Regina. Despite months of trying, Emma still only called her Nohs as an attempt for Snow. Nothing could get the little girl to call her mama.

Emma puckered her lips and leaned up close to Regina.

"Mama kiss."

"Did you teach her that?"

"No, Snow. Lily does it. They imitate each other constantly."

"MAMA! Kiss!"

Regina leaned forward and gave Emma a kiss, not caring anymore that Snow was there to witness anything.

"Snow, Blue said that Emma has magic. Is this true?"

Emma looked over at Mal at the mention of her name.

"She is lying. Blue came around Emma trying to do some test on her or other. Emma doesn't like strangers, so it didn't go over well. There's a lot of people she doesn't allow around her. It doesn't mean she has magic."

As Snow's denial ended, Emma's hand became encased in white light. Lily reached over and joined hands with Emma. Together they poofed themselves to the diner.

Regina and Mal turned to stare at Snow, eyebrows raised, daring her to refute what had transpired.

"Fine, she has magic. So what? Shouldn't we be going to find them?"

"They're safe. We placed protection spells over them long ago. If something were wrong, we'd know. That magic wasn't just any magic."

"It was magic, Maleficent. What difference does it make what kind it is?"

"Because Lily has the same magic. Their signatures are the same. Lilith has ancient magic you can't just duplicate."

"Rumple said it's true love magic Emma has."

Regina glared at Snow, barely containing her growl. "You let Rumple near Emma?"

"She attacked him. Emma attacks people she views as a threat."

"Did she attack Blue?"

Mal knew they were ignoring the issue of Emma's identical magic to Lily. It went far beyond true love magic. She just didn't know how to deal with it at the moment. It was easier to focus on those Emma viewed as a threat. Instincts were strongest in infancy. If Emma was attacking Blue and Rumple, things with them were clearly wrong.

"Ruby said that Blue had tried at some point to do magic on her. She seemed scared when Emma made a protective bubble around herself when Blue tried to get near Emma in the diner one day. She burned Rumple's hand. She's used the thing on me a time or two."

"Emma is the reason Rumple's hand is messed up?"

Snow nodded and got up. "I've to go find my daughter."

Regina and Mal poofed themselves to the girls. They were eating mini bowls of cookies and crawling all over the booth.

""Ruby, tell Snow that we're keeping Emma tonight and if she has a problem with it to go talk to Kathryn."

They brought the girls home after cleaning them up. Wearing them out by bedtime proved a challenge due to the large quantity of sugar consumed, but they eventually got both girls asleep, snuggled between them.

"Regina, I think Emma is ours."

"I've only been trying to tell you that for months."

"You won't let me or Blue do the tests to confirm!"

"I know, but they're painful. Do you really want Emma to suffer because we don't have modern spells that allow magic testing to be painless? When you pull magic out of someone, it hurts. Magic is apart of someone. You're literally ripping a piece of them out. It hurts when you draw blood or get teeth fixed. It hurts when you break a bone. These spells are the equivalent of snapping all your tendons in one go, even if it's temporary. I wouldn't let you do such tests on Lily. Look at this sweet little girl. Can you honestly tell me that she gets no vote in this?"

"Emma is an infant, Regina. She's our infant. We have the say! I say we do the tests."

"Look at the impact she's made on Snow though. She's no longer trying to kill anyone or scaring the entire town into hiding around her. Emma is good for her. We can't just rip her away from Snow. The girl who killed my mother would return."

" _Our_ daughter, Regina! Ours! Somehow she stole Emma from us without us knowing. I want answers. I want my child with me!"

"So do I! Don't you think I'd like a child who actually wants to be around me instead of being the second choice? We will have to go to court. The laws here… we can't just take Emma back."

Emma chose that moment to wriggle and stretch, green eyes blinking open to find both Regina and Maleficent staring at her.

""Mama, shh." Emma reached up and attempted to cover Regina's eyes with her little hand.

Regina brought the hand down to her lips and kissed the little palm.

"I _am_ your mama, huh? All this time you've been telling me. Do you know what we should do about this?"

"Ni-nigh."

"I want my baby full time, Regina. I had to go almost an entire year without her. Emma is ours. That's why our magic sparks out to connect to her like it does Lily. We're calling Kathryn in the morning and starting whatever we have to do to get her back. She's mine, and I will kill Snow before I let her keep my baby any longer."

"Shh, mommy. S'kay. Ni-nigh."

"See, mine! I gave the milk that fed her. I should have known right then that a mere human baby wouldn't have been able to tolerate dragon's milk. I just wasn't thinking. You've nursed her as much as I. We've taken care of her almost every night for the past five months. She knows we're her family. I'm getting her back!"

Regina nodded and stroked her wife's cheek. " _We_ are getting her back!"

 **DQDQDQ**

Kathryn sat across from Regina, Maleficent, and the girls. She looked between the four of them.

"You're telling me that Emma is yours? How do you know?"

"Milk."

Kat's face twisted in confusion. "Milk?"

"Mal means her milk. A dragon can only nurse another dragon. We've been nursing Emma for almost six months. A human child would get violently ill. In fact, David did get sick when he drank Emma's milk one day."

"Ew! Milk isn't much to go on. Do you know where David went? He's been gone for months now. Maybe he could help. Surely he'd know if Emma was his and Snow's or not."

"He isn't at your place?"

"No. A few months ago he went back to Snow, but she refused to let him in. Fred grew tired of him, so I think he finally went to the docks and found work in exchange for lodging on a ship."

"We haven't seen him. Who cares? The girls? How do I get my daughter back with me?"

"We can get a DNA test for you all. The results will take a few weeks, but that would be certain Emma is yours or not. Again, anything besides milk to back up these claims?"

"Magic."

"Magic? A lot of people have magic. We're fairytale characters, Maleficent."

"Ancient magic, you ice princess. Ancient magic that can only be passed on through genetics. This far supersedes innate magic or true love's magic some others have. My magic has been with me centuries, longer than Rumple has been his sorry excuse of an imp. Lily has it, and we witnessed Emma doing magic. Their signatures are identical."

"The significance of a signature?"

"Rumple's signature is black and bitter, smells swampy. Regina's is purple and slightly sweet. It smells like cinnamon. Mine is green and smells of rose with hints of lavender. The girls have white magic that smells like apple blossoms. They've got innate magic, true love's magic, and dragon magic flowing through them. Each signature is supposed to be different, but theirs is the same."

Regina poofed to Snow's apartment and gathered Snow's hair brush and David's toothbrush, bringing them to Kat. They all went to the hospital. A nurse named Drew gave them all cheek swabs as a favour to Kathryn. He put a rush on the tests. Mal muttered a spell over it so that it couldn't be tampered with.

"I suggest we meet with Snow to figure out how to proceed. You're talking about ripping Emma away from the only mother she's known. Kidnapping or not, a judge is going to want to provide stability for the girls."

"She's mine! Emma is staying with us."

"Mal's right! Kat, Emma has been with us as much as she's been with Snow the past six months. She calls me mama. She calls Mal mommy. The girls love each other. I doubt Emma would be upset at all at the change."

"Regardless, a family judge might be more of a bleeding heart than you or me. It's best if we try to come up with an agreement outside the court system."

Snow had tried for days to get Emma back from Regina and Maleficent, but she'd been unsuccessful. The entire town was on edge from the irritable woman. She was livid when Kathryn summoned Snow to a meeting. She found Regina and Maleficent in Kat's conference room as well.

Kathryn slid her a piece of paper.

"What is this?"

"That's Emma's DNA test. You're not Emma's mother. David isn't Emma's father. You knew this though."

"Emma _is_ mine! I've raised her. I've spent month dealing with her colic. I spent nearly six months trying formula after formula that she could keep down. I dealt with her colds. I dealt with teething and her biting me. I have the battle wounds. I took care of her, not them."

Regina had to use magic to hold her wife back. Mal had jumped out of the chair so quickly there was no time to do anything else.

"Maleficent, attacking her won't get us Emma. Sit down!"

"Emma is _my_ daughter. I carried her. I nursed her. Regina nursed her. We have taken care of her every night for nearly six months. Had you not stolen her, we'd always have had her."

Snow shrugged. "But she's mine. I'm who she knows."

"That's why she doesn't call you mama? Emma is ours. You're not keeping her, Snow. You've taken enough from me."

"You can't have my daughter!"

Kat stepped in between the warring brunettes.

"Ladies, please! Stop this! There's always a state option for custody if the judge doesn't think either of you is suitable. Attacking each other is not suitable."

"What do you want? Emma is mine!"

"Snow, you really have gone too far this time. You killed my mother. My father died to help me free myself from your dangers. You took my parents from me, cost everyone their lives in the Enchanted Forest. Why wasn't that enough for you? You had to steal my child too, dangling her over my head like some cruel joke."

"I changed my mind!"

"What?"

"I changed my mind. Emma was initially just to hurt you, but I fell in love with her. She's my world. You can't take her from me! She's mine!"

"Your world was David. Your world was always evil, so much so that the Dark One fears you. Emma knows she belongs with us. She calls us mama. She spends every night with Lily. She's our baby, not yours!"

The trio yelled it out until the entire room was in tears.

"Enough! That's more than enough! This is what's in the best interest of the girls. Stop focusing on yourselves. You should be ashamed!"

Regina sighed. "No one is debating that Emma has made you a better person, Snow. Unlike you, we know ripping a child from her mother is cruel and harmful. We aren't giving you back Emma."

"You just said?"

"We said we know what it's like. We do. For months we ignored our instincts that Emma was ours for the sake of not ruining our arrangement. We didn't want you to become a psychotic murderer again. That doesn't mean you're going to get to have Emma back."

"She's _my_ daughter! You can't keep her!"

Kathryn stepped in. "Snow, what you've done is illegal. Kidnap, endangering the welfare of a child, not to mention whatever you've done to David. I'm sure I can tie you up in a multitude of misdemeanors as well that will combine to put you away until Emma is an adult. Emma is not yours."

"What exactly did you call me down here for then?"

"Emma is going to be staying with us from now on. You may, however, have supervised visits with her. You may not come near Lily. You will not attempt to take Emma from us again. You tell us how you did it, and where David is. You accept this world's punishments, or I can gladly show you what a dragon can do."

"You're not taking Emma from me. She's mine!"

"No, Snow. Emma is Regina and Maleficent's. The DNA test proves it. Your arrangement isn't changing all that much. You get to see Emma for an hour or two under supervised protection for Emma's sake. Emma goes back to her mothers. Be grateful they're not killing you or cutting you out of Emma's life completely. They could do that."

"I could take this to court."

Kat nodded in agreement. "You could, but you'd lose. You know you'd lose. Now, if you accept, and you really should, I have paperwork for you to sign.

Snow was backed into a corner. She was losing her daughter. She'd lost everything yet again, and was left with nothing. If supervised visits were all she could get, she'd take them. Nothing was going to keep her from Emma. She'd find a way to get Emma back, to punish Regina and Maleficent again.

It took a half hour to sign all Kathryn's paperwork. Snow told them about how she stole Emma,what Rumple's involvement was, about what happened to David, and a tiny bit about Emma's early days.

White smoke swirled the room. The girls were standing there when it dissipated. Regina ran over to the girls while Mal stood in between them and Snow, who'd risen from her chair and was trying to get to Emma.

Mal and Snow exchanged heated words, firing back and forth at one another like canons on an ancient battlefield. Regina's eyes widened in shock and fear when she noticed smoke huffing out of Emma's nose.

"Maleficent, when do babies generally dragon out?"

"They can at anytime. The first time is always a mystery, up to the child. Why?"

"I think your fighting is causing Emma to get dragon mad. Oh look, there goes Lily smoking too."

Mal turned to tare at the girls. Smoke was coming from little noses. The temperature in the room was quickly rising. She didn't want their first time to be the result of fighting. It was supposed to be a happy time, not ruined by anger. She hoped Snow would be far from Lily when the time happened. Now she hoped Snow'd be far from Emma too.

"Girls, mommy is sorry. Just breathe. Everyone is fine. See, calm."

It'd taken a few long minutes of silence and false sense of calm before the girls were no longer sending out puffs of grey with every breath. Emma walked over to Mal and raised her arms. The blonde picked her daughter up, causing the little one to wrap her around her neck.

"Nohs, be happy. You 'kay. Mommy sowwy."

Snow dared take a step closer. Mal let Emma lean forward and give Snow a hug.

"Emma, you're going to be staying with Lily for a while. I'll see you all the time though. I promise."

Regina knew better than to accept Snow's words. The girl had accepted Regina's words that she wasn't her mother, and then had come back and tried to kill her for not accepting. Snow might be letting Emma stay with her and Mal, but there was no doubt in Regina's mind that Snow was planning already how to get Emma back. The girl had banished her husband, her true love. There was really no limit to Snow anymore. She'd start going through her mother's spellbooks. There had to be a way to keep her girls safe.

Emma patted Snow's cheek a few times.

"Mark my words, Snow. I am a dragon. My girls are dragons. They've powerful magic as do both Regina and I. You may be able to manipulate Rumple and know a few rudimentary spells and potions, but we will end you if you try anything. You've no idea what you're messing with, and I won't let you off a third time."

"Be good, Nohs."

Snow wanted to rip Emma from Maleficent's arms. She wanted to take her daughter and go back to her apartment. She would love nothing more than to shove Regina and Mal over the town line, but she had to play this smart. There had to be a way to get Emma back. She _would_ get Emma back. She'd find a way to get everything she wanted, so if pretending to be weakened by her love for Emma and going along with this allowed her to bide time for a new plan, she'd do it. Snow was going to get Emma back if it was the last thing she did.

Regina and Mal poofed themselves and the girls home. Home. They would be a family of four from now on. Mal didn't want to keep sharing Emma with Snow, but Regina had a bigger heart than she did, a more forgiving one. She'd allow a few months of Snow visiting under the strictest supervision before letting Kat deliver the harshest punishments possible. Be damned if she'd take her baby to prison visiting day. Just a few months, she could do a few months for Emma's sake.


	7. Chapter 7

Mal stared down at her blonde daughter, sleeping peacefully snuggled into her wife. Emma was hers. They knew for certain now, and she was here. She couldn't help but stare at the little one, seeing her in an entirely new light.

Green eyes slowly blinked open to find identical ones staring at her. Emma's face slowly broke into a smile as she rubbed her eyes.

"Mommy?"

"It's still early, Emma. Go back to sleep, baby."

Emma crawled over Lily and onto Mal, settling down with her little head over the woman's heart. "Mommy sing."

Mal stroked blonde curls and smiled. Lily preferred being read to. Emma, however, liked being sung to. Regina had the better voice, and Emma was normally with her when the girls were getting settled to sleep. She could sing for her baby though. Mal was confident she'd do anything Emma asked.

Regina woke up to the sound of her wife softly singing. It wasn't something Mal did often. She smiled at the sight of Emma laying on Mal. Mal was rubbing Emma's back as she sang Somewhere Over the Rainbow with her own twist.

 _Somewhere, over the rainbow, way up high_

 _There's a land that I heard of once in a lullaby_

 _Somewhere, over the rainbow, skies are blue_

 _And the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true_

 _Someday I'll wish upon a star_

 _And wake up where the clouds are far behind me_

 _Where troubles melt like lemon drops_

 _Away above the chimney tops_

 _That's where you'll find me_

 _Somewhere over the rainbow, dragons fly_

 _Dragons fly over the rainbow_

 _Why then, oh why can't I?_

 _If happy little dragons fly_

 _Beyond the rainbow_

 _Why, oh why, can't I?_

Neither Regina nor Mal wanted to let the girls out of their sight. They both took the week off to be with Lily and Emma.

"Let's do a photoshoot. We can finally do all the matching outfits without fear of repercussions. It can be their birthday invite announcement. We need to rethink their party now."

Getting babies to sit through multiple outfit changes and trying to get them to stay still was more of a challenge than Regina anticipated, but she got some great shots out of every outfit. The girls looked so cute together!

Regina's favourite outfit to dress the girls in was a red ruffled romper that had the Dr. Seuss Thing 1 and Thing 2 logos on them. She'd changed the logos with magic to say Twin 1 and Twin 2. Maleficent liked the girls best in their purple dresses and matching leggings. Both girls were holding their dragon lovies. She preferred simple to the elaborate outfits Regina liked.

"Let's do a cake smash! We can get their birthday shoot done today too!"

Lily and Emma seemed to like that idea. They got to be in just their diapers and the lace crowns Mal put on their heads. Regina knew she'd have to time giving them cake perfectly to get the shots she wanted.

"What if we gave them carrot cake instead?"

"Mal, honey, one vanilla cake isn't going to kill them. I promise."

"Yes, but-"

"No buts. Let them eat cake."

Luckily Regina was paying attention because the girls magicked the cakes to themselves and dug in. The girls devoured their cake in record time, leaving a short window for Regina to get her shots.

Regina did a few other outfits after getting the girls cleaned up. When Lily and Emma had enough being fussed over, they poofed themselves to Rosebud Gym. Mal had taken the girls a few times. Each room was created for a specific age group. Trampolines and a ball pit were on half the main floor. Gymnastics equipment covered the other half. Regina and Mal found the girls with Aurora climbing the foam jungle gym in the toddler room.

Briar walked over to her sister cautiously. "Mal, Regina."

Regina gave her a short smile. She had no qualms with the other woman, but her wife did and she didn't want to cause strife.

"Sister, we just got done with the girls' photoshoot for their party next month. I'll make sure yours is the first out. I'd hate for you to miss it. Our girls are such good friends and all."

The three women watched Aurora, Lily, and Emma play. They were all smiles and giggles, climbing around the room like monkeys.

"I've already apologized for not inviting you to Aurora's christening. I made a mistake. Did you say your girls? You finally figured out that Emma is yours?"

Regina gasped. "You knew? You knew and didn't tell us?"

"The entire town knew. Emma has been popping in out of nowhere to see Ruby at the diner a lot. She makes the Dark One and the Blue Faery run in fear. We just figured you knew and were letting the Dark Princess have her to keep peace."

"No! We wouldn't sacrifice our baby to make Snow happy."

"Nohs?"

All three women froze and turned to face the little blonde. Emma looked lost in that moment, and it wrenched at both Mal and Regina's hearts. It was Regina who moved first. She crouched down in front of Emma and stared into stormy sea coloured eyes.

"Baby mine, Snow isn't coming. You're staying with us now. It'll be okay."

"Nohs sad?" Emma pouted up at Regina.

"Snow made a very bad move. She's going to be sad for a while, but everything will be okay."

"Bad Nohs? Why?"

Regina looked back to Mal for help. How do you tell a baby that she was stolen from her parents at birth because of a vendetta that started before she was born?

"Yes, baby. Snow took someone that didn't belong to her. That's a bad move, but it's getting fixed so don't be sad."

Emma stared at Maleficent for a minute. "Tay me?"

Maleficent silently cursed herself. Of course her babies would be incredibly intelligent. "Yes, Emma, she took you, but we're figuring it out. You're safe."

"Hug Nohs?"

Regina sighed. This wasn't supposed to be a conversation to have with her children yet. "You want to hug Snow?"

Shaking her head no, Emma pointed to Mal and Regina.

Briar chuckled. "I think she wants you two to hug her. That's been the response by both girls when someone is upset. They hug. Kids can fix their problems easily like that, a cute smile and a hug and things are good again.

Emma looked at her mothers expectantly. Regina scooped Emma and Lily up, kissing their faces until both girls were lost in laughter. Hopefully it'd be years before Emma asked again. It'd give them time to figure out how to explain things.

 **DQDQDQ**

Mal came bursting into the house excitedly waving a flyer in Regina's face.

"If you hold still, dear, I might be able to read it."

The flyer was yanked from Regina's hands as Maleficent proceeded to inform her in bouncing excitement. "The fall festival kicks off tomorrow! We can take the girls! They can take them on the hayride and through the corn maze. They can pick pumpkins and get their face painted. I know they've games for the girls and crafts! They'll love it! I forgot all about it with everything going on."

"They'll like it or you will? You're acting like a child."

"No reason we all can't enjoy it."

"We can't enjoy it if we've starved before then. Did you leave the groceries at the store?"

Mal rolled her eyes. "You're very dramatic today. They're in the trunk."

Regina flicked her wrist and the groceries were inside and put away. She noticed her wife preparing bottles. "What are you doing?"

"We've discussed this. The longer a dragon nurses, the stronger they'll be. We missed six months of feeding Emma. She needs this. They both do, but I'm not in the mood to be bitten."

"Dragons need milk longer than humans?"

"Yes, dear. There's a lot more growing to do than a human baby. They've a whole other animal inside them that needs nourishment to develop too. I could stop, but their wings would be wet and flimsy. Their ability to fly is minimal. Right now they'd be fairly small dragons, about their human size now. If they were fully dragon, they'd be much larger, far stronger."

"Tiny, unstable dragon babies that need milk, understood. Can they shift into anything other than a dragon like you do?"

"As they get older, yes. Shape shifting is progressive. The girls have to master being a dragon before they attempt anything else."

"Are they going to look like your dragon?"

Maleficent shrugged. "To each their own. I'd like it if they looked like me, but it's all dependent on the girls. My dragon formed from a place of darkness. I only became more purple as I chose good, as I chose you."

Regina pondered that for a few minutes. "I appreciate it. You're stunning in purple. Is that why you didn't want the girls to shift in Kat's office?"

"Kathryn, if she wasn't the best damn lawyer this town offered I wouldn't have even considered her. David is gone because of her. He may have been a complete idiot, but our daughter loves him. She may understand about Snow, but what do we tell her about him? If they'd shifted in the office, it'd have been because of anger. I want their dragons to be a positive thing."

"They will be! We won't let them be in a bad place about it."

Mal started laughing uncontrollably, startling Regina. "Bad place? Bad place? Regina, this entire situation we're in is a bad place. I've some of the oldest magic in existence, and some spoiled princess with mommy issues stole my newborn. Now, Emma is confused as to where Snow is. Soon she's going to ask about her father. Her entire world just got flipped, because I was too in awe of Lily to pay attention to the goddamn magic in the room."

Regina moved to pull her wife into a reassuring hug as tears followed the rant. "This isn't your fault, Maleficent. You'd just given birth, twice might I add. I didn't question it either. We weren't expecting a second child. I wrote off the magic too. We can't play the blame game. We have to focus on our babies. Emma needs us now more than ever."

Lily ran into the kitchen, dragging Emma after her. The giggling stopped when the two noticed their mothers both crying.

"Mommy?"

Mal spun to face Lily, taking in the concerned expressions on her daughters' faces. She bent down and picked them both up. "It's alright, princesses. Mommy just got sad for a minute."

Emma looked at Lily. Both girls nodded before throwing their arms around Mal, hugging her tightly. Emma leaned back and held an arm out to Regina, brows furrowing when Regina didn't immediately join the hug.

Regina was surprised that night when Emma pushed away the bottle. The little blonde snuggled into her, but kept refusing the bottle. Maleficent transferred Lily to Regina and took Emma, heating her bottle and trying again.

"How'd you do that?"

Maleficent had gotten Emma to eat half the bottle before the little girl shoved it away. When Mal had tried again to get her to take the bottle, Emma took the bottle and threw it across the room. She'd given up and made a note to sneak some into Emma's oatmeal in the morning.

"Cinnamon. I put a tiny bit in and warmed it up. Mother did it for us when we refused to drink our milk as children."

"Emma is usually such a good eater. Do you think she's getting sick?"

"Regina, we're all adjusting to this. The books said major changes can disrupt a child's typical behaviour patterns. Give it a while. If Emma is still refusing to eat, we'll figure something out."

They got up early to prepare for taking the girls to the festival. Regina dressed the girls in jean overall dresses with orange plaid shirts. Emma and Lily made adorable scarecrows. Mal set the girls in the red wagon before she and Regina walked to the fair.

Lily was the first to poof away once at the festival. Regina found her at the candy apple stand trying to bite into an apple.

"That's much too big for you my dear. You'll hurt yourself."

The little brunette stared defiantly at her mother before resuming attempts to consume the confection.

"Lilith, if you ask nicely I can cut it up so you can eat it. Otherwise we're going back to your mother and Emma."

The mention of cutting had Lily smiling as she used her magic to make the apples into tiny pieces before she disappeared with them. Regina found her with Emma as the two tried eating as many pieces as they could at once.

Maleficent didn't look pleased. "Regina, you know how I feel about sweets."

"Don't look at me. I didn't steal the apple. I didn't cut it up for her. I didn't say she could have it. That's all Lily."

"In that case…" Maleficent magicked the apple away causing both girls to turn and glare at them, sporting caramel covered pouts.

"Mine!"

Regina would have laughed at the girls saying the same thing at the same time. They really were twins, but this situation wasn't funny. It seems the girls had woken up in a sassy mood from their naps.

"No. You ask me or Mommy if you want something. We have to buy it. You can't just take it. Lily, I said you could only have the apple if you asked nicely for it."

Emma poofed herself to the petting animal corner. Maleficent found her trying to corral the piglets into a corner.

"What do you think you're doing, Emma?"

"Piggy!"

"I see the piggies, but you're scaring them, baby. You've got to be gentle. Want me to help you?"

Maleficent knew that most animals sensed her dragon. They were generally pretty skittish around her. She didn't know if the animals were running in fear of Emma chasing them or of her dragon.

"No. Me get."

Emma chased the piglets around for a few minutes before huffing loudly and stomping her foot. It was such a little Regina thing to do that she laughed, causing Emma's frown to deepen.

"Mommy, piggy!"

"That's not how you ask nicely, Emma."

"Now!"

"Emma!" Maleficent warned her daughter, raising an eyebrow. Emma seemed slightly more agreeable today than Lily.

"Peas piggy!"

Maleficent poofed a piglet into her arms and held the squealing animal as Emma quickly rushed over to pet it.

"Mine!"

"No, Emma. These belong to someone else. If you'd like a pet, your mama and I have to agree on it."

The next instant, Regina and Lily were in the petting ring. They blinked around, disoriented until Emma marched up to them.

"Mama, piggy!"

"What?"

Emma stomped her foot in frustration before pointing to Maleficent still holding the piglet. "Piggy!"

"Emma thinks that we're getting a piglet for a pet. I told her I'd have to discuss a pet with you, but it wouldn't be a pig."

"No pets now. We've too much going on as it is."

Taking Lily's hand, Emma dragged her sister over to the piglet. "Our piggy."

Maleficent almost caved at the words. Taking on a piglet wouldn't be so bad. Right?

"Don't even, Maleficent! We are not taking on a piglet."

"But they -"

Regina cut her off. "I know they're cute, and a piglet is cute right now, but we're not getting a piglet. Those things grow up to be several hundred pounds very quickly. They're messy, and I do not want to train an animal right now. No. Girls, you're not getting a piggy."

Lily and Emma stared at her, pouting. "Our piggy!"

"No, girls, that isn't yours. Ask me when you're four."

"Four!" Emma pointed to herself, nodding repeatedly and reminding Regina of a bobblehead.

"You're not quite four yet, Emma. You're going to be one soon. Four years old is in three more years."

Regina could see Mal falling in love with the piglet the longer she held it. They didn't need a pig. Two soon to be toddlers were enough right now.

"Maleficent, set down the animal. Let's go get their faces painted."

The girls sat still long enough to have a pumpkin and a leaf painted on their faces. They both poofed away right after the artist stepped back.

Reginia found Emma at one of the craft tents. A teenage girl was showing Emma how to take a mini sponge roller and paint a leaf to press it into the paper.

"Emma, you cannot keep poofing away. You need me or mommy with you."

"No."

The brunette studied her daughter with a raised eyebrow. Emma was ignoring her in effort to paint her leaves. Her little tongue sticking out in concentration. Maybe it wasn't defiance she was working with here, but lack of vocabulary.

"Mommy and I will take you wherever you wanna go. Just ask or take one of us with you."

"Kay."

Maleficent found Lily at a craft tent across the festival colouring in an outline of an acorn.

"Lilith, if you disappear without me or mama again, we're going home."

"Cayon." Lily pointed to the blue crayon.

"Do you want the crayon?"

"You."

"Me?"

Lily handed her mommy a colouring sheet, glancing up for a second before returning to her drawing. Maleficent marvelled at how Lily was an exact replica of Regina, right down to the tongue that poked out when both concentrated on something.

The girls poofed themselves to the same craft tent next leaving their mothers to follow. Regina and Maleficent talked outside the tent on how to keep Emma and Lily from poofing. The boy running the stand didn't have a chance to clean up little hands of the white paint when Emma poofed herself into Regina's arms.

Maleficent started snickering at the white paint now covering Regina's face and hair as Emma was squishing her face to get a kiss. "Regina, you got a little something."

Regina pulled Emma back a little and saw white palms. "Emma, what are you doing?"

"Boo!"

"Boo?"

"I think she means they made ghosts. I didn't get a chance to clean them up. I'm sorry."

Mal accepted the rag from the boy and worked on wiping the paint from Emma's hands. Regina didn't even want to attempt wiping it off her face, knowing it'd smear. She used magic to clean herself up.

"No Mama! Boo!"

"What about Boo, baby?"

Emma pointed to her cheek and then showed Regina her now clean palm.

"Dear, I think Emma was trying to make you a ghost facepaint like she has on her face."

Emma nodded and pressed her palm to Regina's cheek again.

"Okay, Mama will do. Hold on, Emma."

Lily appeared in front of them just as Regina magicked a ghost on her cheek. Emma seemed happy with it. Both girls turned to Mal, waiting expectantly until a ghost appeared on her cheek too.

The girls giggled before poofing themselves to the Haunted House. Lily took Emma's hands as the lights went out. Regina arrived right behind them just as an animatronic skeleton leapt out at them. She watched as a protective shield surrounded them and blew the skeleton to plastic shards.

"Emma, Lily, let mama get you out of here. Come hold my hand. I won't let anything hurt you."

Regina felt a tiny sting as she touched the shield, but found she could reach through and pick up both girls. She got them to safety before turning to Emma. "Sweetheart, do you do that a lot? Do a lot of people make you afraid?"

Emma shrugged before burying her face in Regina's neck to hide. Mal tilted her head and frowned at noticing both girls looking upset.

"They, well I think mostly Emma, used a shield against a skeleton. It shocks anything or anyone that touches it. I've never seen anything like it."

"Must be what Rumple and Blue are so afraid of. Belle showed me a picture of his hand when she asked if I knew any natural healing remedies. His hand is nearly useless."

Regina examined her hand, but couldn't find any damage. "Must be threats that get the lasting damage."

Mal grabbed her wife's palm and inspected it. The magic still lingering on Regina's palm caused blue eyes to widen. "She's more powerful than me."

"What?"

"The magic that made that shield is older than me. It is incredibly draining, but most effective against any enemy. Rumple is lucky he still has his hand at all. It took me decades to master this. I can't believe our baby can do it on instinct."

"Puhkin!"

Regina and Mal were poofed with Lily and Emma to the tractor for the hayride. It was filled with excited, impatient kids and their parents. Lily wandered around the ride babbling at all the other kids. Emma sat in Mal's lap watching her sister.

The girls stood at the entrance to the corn maze to get to the pumpkin patch. They refused to go in. Mal looked at Regina for what she wanted to do.

"I suppose we could poof to the pumpkins. The Haunted House was a terrible idea."

"If they'd turn on their listening ears they wouldn't have been in there."

"They're eleven months old. We're lucky they listen to us at all. Are we limiting the size of the pumpkins?"

"No. This is their first Halloween, their first birthday. Let them have whatever they'd like."

Regina and Mal watched as Lily dragged Emma around looking for the perfect pumpkin. After a few minutes, Emma sat down on the one she wanted and watched Lily search for hers. The last stop the little family made was to the bouncy castle.

"Hey, wait!"

Regina and Mal turned to face the woman that ran the petting farm. They'd almost made it to the exit. All the women wanted was to go home and get their girls fed and to sleep so they could crash. Neither had anticipated two sassy toddlers.

"You took Mojo."

"Who is Mojo?"

The woman pointed to the squirming jacket in Emma's lap. "That is Mojo. She's the piglet you were playing with earlier."

Maleficent sighed and went to get the animal.

"Mine!"

"Emma, this isn't your pig. She belongs to someone else. If it was your pig and someone took her, you'd be sad. This woman is sad now because you took her pig. That's not a good move. You need to say sorry."

"My piggy."

"Emma!"

"Em pig."

"No, Lily. It's not Emma's pig. She belongs to someone else."

Regina could see her wife wasn't getting anywhere with getting the girls to give up the piglet. "Emma, if you give your mommy the piglet, we can think of other pets you can have."

"Mommy used to have a unicorn. Would you girls like one of those?"

Emma hugged the piggy close before holding her out to Mal. "Sohwy"

Regina refused to let this day get more challenging through toddler tantrums. She poofed them all home before her wife could promise the girls anything else.

 **DQDQDQ**

"Should we take the girls back to the festival? They seemed to enjoy the crafts."

"No. We can make crafts here. I just want to spend some time with the girls without excitement or chaos."

"Oh, well, I told Briar that she could bring Aurora over. She's not feeling well, and Rory is being a handful. I'm sorry."

"Mama! Mama, Aura!"

"You told the girls already? How can I say no now?"

"It's just for a day or two. The girls will love it. Emma hasn't been herself lately.I'm hoping Aurora will help calm them down. Lily is a challenge enough, but the two of them together misbehaving is too much!"

"Maleficent, they're not too much. They're our children. We took Emma from her home and brought her back to us full time. She should have been with us full time from the beginning. We were a handful growing up. Our girls are going to get the freedom to be kids that we didn't get."

"Mama, hug."

Regina leaned down and hugged Emma tightly, kissing her cheek. "Baby mine, can you tell me what's wrong?"

Emma shrugged before looking up at her blonde mother, arms up for a hug. Maleficent scooped her baby up into her arms, holding her close.

"Can you tell us why you've been feeling yucky? We want to help you."

They got nothing out of Emma. The little girl simply wriggled down and went to go play with her sister until the doorbell rang. Maleficent beat the girls to the door, but just barely.

Blue eyes widened at the sight of her sister in a surgical mask. "Is there something you'd like to tell me?"

"Trying to protect the girls. I don't want them sick."

Maleficent nodded and took the bag from Briar. Aurora jetted off with Emma and Lily for the playroom the second she was on the ground.

"We'll take good care of her. Would you like a videochat before bed to say goodnight to her?"

"You wouldn't mind?"

"Of course not. We know how hard it is to be away from your baby."

"The town is more afraid of the Dark Princess than you two. I'm sorry. We all thought you knew. I've to go so I can take this mask off and breathe properly. I'd really appreciate the call before bed."

"Maleficent, stop tormenting your sister. Our girls are going to learn bad habits from you. Briar, we'll make sure to call you before the girls go to bed. Feel better."

Regina shut the door as the older blonde left. "Dear, I know you're angry at the town. I am too, but fighting with your sister won't solve anything. Move forward, for our girls. I don't want their example at siblings to be you fighting with Aurora's mother."

Lily refused her dinner first that night. She hit the spoon away from her every time it came near her face. It prompted Emma to follow suit and throw the bowl on the floor. Aurora stared at them, jaw dropped, before smirking and throwing her bowl onto the floor as well.

"Girls, that is unacceptable! You need to eat dinner."

A chorus of three 'NO's' rang out.

Regina and Mal tried for another ten minutes before giving up. They weren't going to force the girls to eat. Whatever was going on with the twins, they'd know soon enough. They got the girls bathed, in bed, and called Briar before reading them a story.

Mal woke up to a foot in her face. Regina found a little elbow digging into her ribs. Both women slowly blinked awake to find Emma stretched diagonally between them on her stomach.

"This is new. Do we wake her?"

"She's asleep. I can't figure out if it's a human problem or a dragon problem. I don't know if she's getting sick or if she just misses Snow. I don't know if it's magical or not. I can't fix this right now, so if Emma is happily asleep, let her be."

"Where'd we get the pacifier?"

Maleficent leaned over, noticing the mint green pacifier for the first time hanging out of Emma's mouth. "I've no idea. That's not one of ours. Maybe it was in Aurora's bag?"

"If Emma's wanting to take a pacifier, maybe she'll take a bottle?"

"It's the middle of the night and Emma is asleep. I know she's barely ate dinner, but tricking her or forcing her isn't the option."

Lily suddenly appeared in their bed and squished between her mothers, pushing them farther apart. She was fast asleep, not aware she'd left her crib. She also had a pacifier in her mouth similar to the one Emma had.

"Maybe we need to try giving them magic lessons." Regina pulled Lily to her after rearranging Emma. She didn't feel like being booted from her own bed tonight.

Emma groaned at being adjusted before crawling up on top of Maleficent to sleep, listening to the rapid beat of the dragon's heartbeat.

The next day none of the girls seemed to want to do anything but cuddle together. They weren't sick, but they weren't themselves. Normally all were little spitfires, running around from sun up to sun down lucky to get a nap in. Maleficent was grateful for a day of snuggles and movies instead of trying to combat three rambunctious toddlers.

They'd gone to make lunch when Regina voiced her concerns. "We've got to let Emma see her, Maleficent."

"Absolutely not! I won't let this happen until Emma is adjusted and happy with us. I won't have Snow messing with her head."

"What if seeing her is the key to making Emma happy here? This is a huge adjustment. Snow promised her she'd still see her every day. This isn't about us. This is about Emma!"

"Emma doesn't need her, Regina. Snow said herself that Emma's used that shield a time or two on her. Do you know how awful you've to be to have that happen?"

"No, but Snow wasn't hurt. Just consider letting Emma have a supervised visit, just one. If it goes terribly, you never have to let her again. At the very least, it lets us ask if she knows what's wrong."

"Two weeks. Let's try on our own, and if Emma is still unhappy by then, Snow can have _one_ supervised visit with a caseworker, us, and the sheriff present."

"You'll scare Emma if you do that. Two weeks is also too long, a week."

"A week and a half, then. I'm doing this under protest. Look at Emma. She's snuggled between Lily and Aurora. They're all happily watching Arthur. We can figure this out without her."

"What happens when Aurora goes home and Emma is still sad and refusing to eat? I've not once in the six months I've been feeding her have had her refuse a meal. If Snow is what she needs, it's a simple solution."

"I still don't like it."

"We're not giving Emma back, dear. We're going to let Snow see Emma for an hour or two. There's twenty four hours in a day. That's not that long to let her have an hour."

"She's had eleven months, Regina! Nearly six months where we could have been properly caring for her, at least involved in her life, instead of the shit she got with them."

Regina's eyes widened a bit as smoke puffed out her wife's nose and mouth. "Mal, I'm as angry about it as you, but dwelling on it won't help the here and now. Emma is with us _now._ That's what matters."

"Mommy mad?"

Both women turned to find Emma standing a few feet away holding her dragon lovie, pacifier in her mouth, and sans socks.

"Mommy isn't mad, Emmie. I just forgot myself for a minute. What's wrong? Is the movie no good?"

"No mad. Hug."

Emma handed her mommy her dragon. Maleficent chose to pick Emma up in one hand and accept the toy in the other.

"Emma, do you want lunch? Chicken soup and crackers."

The little girl nodded, not raising her head from Mal's shoulder. Regina sighed. One child was willing to eat. Maybe the rest would follow suit.

 **DQDQDQ**

The past few days had been exhausting. The girls had regained some energy and were running wild again. Regina and Mal were glad to see them all giggles and mischief, but they were worn out.

Regina and Mal had taken the girls to the apple orchard. They'd spent the day picking all kinds of apples. The girls had enjoyed it until they found piles of leaves at the end of each tree row. It'd taken everything in Regina not to stop them from climbing in the filth. Gods only knew what was in those piles, but if it made Lily and Emma happy, she'd let them.

The maintenance crews came around and were raking the leaves into giant trash bags. Some were red and looked like apples. Others were orange and had jack-o-lantern faces on them. Emma and Lily had enjoyed chasing the leaves and 'helping' put leaves in the bags.

They'd all made applesauce when the little family finally made it home. Regina had also made skillet apples and mini apple pies. The desserts would be a great treat for the staff in her office. The rest of the apples Regina saved to make cider.

The girls were absolutely filthy by their bedtime. Mal and Regina had given the girls a bath and gotten them into their matching Thing 1 and Thing 2 pajamas Briar had gotten them after seeing the proofs for the birthday announcement.

Regina was in the living room trying to get Emma to take her bottle. Maleficent was upstairs with Lily. They thought separating them might gain better results in their feeding.

Lily wriggled out of her mommy's arms and stood on the floor, puffing out her little belly. Mal watched her daughter poke her belly and pout.

"Lily bloom, does your tummy hurt?"

Her little girl shook her head and kept poking her belly. Tears started welling up, and something clicked in Mal's head. Emma had been doing this a lot lately when she thought it was just her and Lily. She'd been sleeping on her stomach. Oh gods! How had she missed this?

Mal scooped Lily up and poofed to the living room. Regina was going to rub Emma's stomach.

"Don't!"

Regina jumped, causing Emma to cry as she was roughly jostled in her mama's lap. "Maleficent! What is the matter with you? Shh, Emma. You're okay. I'm sorry."

"Don't rub -"

It was too late. Regina had started rubbing Emma's stomach and was soon greeted with a lapful of whatever just came out of Emma.

"Do I even want to know what this is?"

Maleficent scrunched up her nose at the smell of dragon bile. "No. Don't ask."

"Why is this eating my clothes? Maleficent!"

The blonde magicked the vomit away before picking up Emma. "Regina, we need to get to an open space. I've got to dragon."

"Emma's never seen you as a dragon. She could get upset. What's wrong?"

"No time now. Grab Lily."

Regina stood there for a few seconds, bewildered as to what happened Lily toddled over and raised her arms. She didn't give Regina a chance to think or react before poofing them to Mal and Emma.

Emma was sitting on the grass, shaking and wide eyed as Maleficent transformed into her dragon. Maleficent as a dragon was gargantuan, and the fear in Emma's face reflected this.

"In Kathryn's garden, Maleficent? Really?" Regina focused her attention on Emma. "Don't worry, Emma. Mommy won't ever hurt you."

Maleficent roared at Regina as she tried to pick Emma up. Magic lifted her and moved her back, settling her next to Lily twenty feet away. It took a minute for Regina to realize that Lily had moved her.

"Lily, what's going on?"

Lily ignored her, her focus on Emma. Regina looked between her daughters and noticed that the whines and whimpers of pain Lily was making was reflected in Emma. Was Emma in this much pain?

Maleficent slowly approached Emma. When her daughter didn't back away, Mal carefully picked Emma up. She curled up into a ball and laid Emma's stomach flat against hers.

Regina watched as her wife's dragon belly glowed bright green. Emma struggled for five minutes before she calmed. At least Regina assumed she calmed from Lily's last whimper before climbing into her lap and snuggling up.

Emma didn't know what the warm thing was on her tummy, but it felt good. It made the bad feeling go away. Maleficent felt the moment the knot in Emma's stomach unwound and turned her towards the ground, away from Regina and Lily.

Lily bolted upright and screamed, mirroring Emma's own before the little blonde gave Regan MacNeil a run for her money. The dragon vomit absorbed into the ground and the vegetable garden turned to ash.

Mal waited until Emma was completely done before shifting back. Emma was sobbing. She poofed a bottle filled with water for her baby to drink.

"What the hell just happened?" Regina rushed over, stopping just short of the char line, Lily poofing over to Emma.

"This is the result of a malnourished dragon baby getting stressed. There's a reason I don't want the girls to have a lot of sugar. I'm not being mean. I'm trying to prevent knots."

"Knots? I thought that was just an expression."

"Not for dragons. This is why I insist on feeding them until they're at least two. For as large and beastly as dragons look, we're pretty fragile. It takes one slight misstep in our system to bring us down. As you can see, dragon vomit can scorch anything it touches."

"The knots? What happened? Lily doesn't get them."

"Lily has been properly fed her entire life. Emma hasn't, resulting in her stomach being weaker than Lily's. The drastic changes in her life caused literal knots in her stomach. It's why she wasn't eating."

"The glowy thing you did?"

"Similar to human babies, a dragon baby's digestion is aided by being placed on their mother's stomach while eating. I have literal fire in my belly. I warmed the knots loose. She should feel much better now."

"Unwinding the knots produces acidic vomit? Is Emma okay now?"

"Now that I know what's wrong, Emma is going to be fine. A few more fire bellies and some warm baths and she'll be perfectly fine. No visit needed."

"Our daughter just turned the entirety of Kathryn's vast garden to char. We're having that visit."

"Mommy," a sleepy voice rasped causing both women to look down at Emma.

"You're alright now Princess. Mommy is going to get you into a bath, and then we're going to bed."

"Why was she sick on me earlier?"

"You can't rub out a knot. It needs fire to unwind itself. If you push on it, she's going to get sick."

"The girls don't have their own fire?"

"They're babies, half human babies. They don't have enough fire yet to regulate their dragons. I told you, wet wings, poor flying skills. Knots sometimes happen in full dragons, but not usually."

"How'd you know about them?"

"I read about it. I heard about it. Dragons weren't that rare back home. We shared knowledge."

Regina went to take Emma, but she turned away, holding tightly to Maleficent. Mal didn't miss the hurt flash in chocolate eyes.

"Dear, it's not personal. Do you want to be moved after you've thrown up? My body is still a soothing temperature to her. I guarantee by morning Emma will be wanting you again."

"Mommy me!"

"Yes, Lily. You can have a bath too."

Maleficent and Regina poofed them back home and to the master bath. Mal turned the faucet to the hottest setting. Emma whined when Mal moved to put her in the tub.

"Seems someone isn't done trying to fix her tummy troubles. You're getting a bath."

Regina knelt next to the tub as her girls sat in the bath. Her hand accidentally touched the water when she went to stroke Emma's hair, burning her hand. "That cannot be safe!"

"Dragons, sweetheart. It feels lovely to us. It's going to help Emma recover quicker."

"Could a doctor detect the knot?"

"I don't know. Dragons didn't have modern medicine back home. I only know one or two still around now. An ultrasound would cause vomiting, which isn't good for anyone. Why?"

"I'd feel better seeing that Emma is okay now. Lily was crying and in pain when you were working on her. It sounded awful."

"That makes sense since their magical signatures are identical. Twins in this world have odd connections. Emma and Lily are two sides of the same coin. Knots are incredibly painful. It traps everything eaten. The innate fire boils it until the knot is unwound. Hence the ruined garden. Hopefully we can prevent it in the future so they don't have to feel that ever again."

"You said you'd have to do this a few more times. Why?"

"You don't treat a wound once and then let it go. You keep dressing it until it's healed. I can't fire away a knot just once and expect it to completely unwind or heal completely."

Regina used her magic once the bath was over to dry the girls off and put them in pajamas. They were all too worn out to try and do things without magic.

"You know we need to fix Kathryn's garden right? The entire town knows how much she loved it. Why did you pick there?"

"Because of her role in this. You can't be mad at a sick baby. It's an unwritten law."

Lily conjured their dragon lovies and pacifiers for both her and Emma. At least this time Regina knew the soothers were their own. She reached over and gently rubbed Emma's back as Lily snuggled into her. Hopefully they'd all sleep a bit easier tonight.

 **DQDQDQ**

It took Maleficent a week before she felt Emma was mended properly and back to herself. The amount of magic required to help her baby was exhaustive. She finally caved and agreed to let Emma see Snow if she could pick all the controls.

"It's going to be at the hospital. There's a social worker there who will supervise. The room has three cameras in it in the ceiling so Emma won't know she's being watched. Armed guards will be just outside the room. I recommend bringing Lily so that Emma won't feel so out of place."

"You want us to put Lily in danger? It's bad enough we have to put Emma through this."

"Maleficent, you agreed to supervised visits. Snow promised Emma she'd see her daily. The evidence of her needing Snow is burnt all over my backyard. Why would you be willing to risk Emma and not Lily?"

Regina stepped in, knowing her wife was about to explode on their lawyer. "Lily has no connection to Snow. Snow took Emma. She took care of Emma. Horribly cared for Emma, but cared none the less. She's admitted she loves Emma. Snow won't hurt Emma. There's nothing that says she won't hurt Lily."

"Armed guards, her parents, a social worker, and her sister ensure that Lily will be safe. The playroom will be vacant and strange to Emma. She needs to feel safe."

"I'm placing protective wards over the girls, the room, the toys, everything. If I so much as sense something is amiss we are leaving. Snow be damned."

"Mal, we've been over this. Emma needs this. Do you really want to be doing fire bellies for the rest of her life? Let her see Snow. We will be there. Emma can and will protect herself if needed."

"I am picking the guards out front. I want their files. You get in writing that Snow will not hurt Emma, Lily, or us otherwise she faces prison for all she's done to us."

Kat just shook her head at the irate dragon. "Already done. It was in the papers I initially had her sign. Have you thought about what to do about David?"

"What can we do, Kathryn? Snow sent him over a magical barrier that prevents reentry. We can't just bring him back. Magic doesn't exist beyond this town."

"It would help Emma. David isn't a bad guy. He's an idiot, but Emma loved him. It'd be good for her to have one familiar face you two weren't afraid of her being around."

Regina rolled her eyes, losing her patience. "We will get right on that, Princess. Gods forbid you're without your lover another day."

Kat ignored the barb and wrote down all the rules Maleficent had given her to have Snow agree to before arranging the meeting for three days from now. She just hoped it wouldn't backfire on them. Nothing ever went according to plan with those three women.


	8. Chapter 8

unbetaed. all mistakes are my own. i apologize for them.

 **DQDQDQ**

Maleficent paced the floor of their bedroom anxiously. In a few hours they were supposed to take the girls to the hospital so Emma could see Snow. She didn't want to do this. Everything in her gut was telling her to take the girls as far away from that nut as possible. Maybe she could dragon out and just eat her.

"You're going to wear a hole in the floor. I paid good money for those floorboards. It's, Maleficent it's five in the morning. The girls aren't even up yet. What's wrong?"

"I don't want to do this. It's the worst idea I've ever heard."

Regina's sleep addled brain couldn't understand what her wife was muttering about. "What is the worst idea?"

"Maybe we can say one of them got sick? Kathryn could change the deal to not include the girls. I could just sneeze on her."

"Maleficent, it is five in the morning. For once our girls aren't here to wake us up. What is wrong so I can go back to sleep?"

"I could conjure a flood and force us to stay here."

It took a few moments, but it finally clicked for Regina. "You're not getting out of this. Emma wants to see her. We have enough magic combined with our girls to bring on the apocalypse. The hospital is safe. There'll be guards there. The room and the girls will be protected. Short of doing this over video conference, there's nothing safer. Let Emma have this."

"Video conference? Why didn't I think of that? You're a genius!" Mal leapt for her wife, crushing their mouths together.

"As much as I'd love to continue, we aren't video conferencing Snow. Emma has been looking forward to this. Do you not remember the way her little face lit up when we told her? It's one hour, Mal. For Emma."

Maleficent groaned and flopped onto her side of the bed. "My gut says we do not do this. There is no trusting her. She pushed her _True Love_ over that town line, essentially destroying their relationship. There's no way he can come back to town. Who knows how far the woods goes. He may die before he finds shelter or food. What do you think she's capable of doing to our babies if she can do that to the person she's supposed to love most?"

"Emma isn't David. Emma is innocent, and she seems to be the only one anymore that Snow cares about. The meeting will be fine. I've faith that our magic won't fail should we need it."

"We need to figure out what to do about Rumple and Blue too. Rumple is just as guilty as Snow. He needs to be punished. If Blue wants our babies, there can't be a good reason."

"Rumple and Snow will pay. Kathryn will take care of it. If not, we roast them. Until then, sleep."

"What could she want with the girls' magic?"

"I don't know. You know you're the only faery I tolerate. Maybe she could bring David back?"

Emma poofed into the room right then, landing on top of Regina. She caught the last sentence. "Dada?"

"No, baby. He's still on a trip. Maybe next time. What are you doing up?"

The little blonde turned to other mother. "Mommy sad."

Regina raised an eyebrow and shot an 'I told you so' look towards her wife. "Em, everything is okay. Mommy was just exercising her legs. She's tired now, see. She's laying down with us. It's still sleep time."

"No. Up!"

"Sleepytime, baby."

"Up ti-me. Em up. Mommy up."

Regina tickled Emma's tummy. "What's with the mommy business? You're supposed to like me best."

"Me do." Emma wrapped her arms around Regina's neck and pulled herself up to give kisses.

"Hey. What about mommy? I like kisses too."

Giggling, Emma kept her hold around Regina, but leaned over and puckered her lips, waiting for her blonde mother to kiss her.

"Nohs?"

"Yes, baby mine. Today we see Snow."

Regina and Mal looked down at Emma when the silence stretched. The look of consternation bothered both women.

"Emmie, what's wrong?"

"Nohs bad."

"Why do you think Snow is bad?"

Emma pointed to both her mothers. "Tayed me. Bad."

"It's complicated, Emma. Taking someone isn't nice, but she-" Maleficent paused to take a deep breath, steadying her nerves. "She loves you, princess. Just like me and mama love you. She loves you too."

"Wih-wee too?"

Regina bit her bottom lip and looked over at Maleficent. They had no idea if Snow cared for Lily or not. Emma always seemed to be able to detect a lie, but how do you make a child feel okay with seeing the monster that raised them when you weren't okay with it? How do you not make your child feel bad for loving someone you loathe?

"Even Lily, because Lily is your sister."

"Stay me?"

"We are going to stay right with you Emma. You don't have to be scared."

Emma flopped down fully on Regina's chest and settled in. She looked like a sleeping red panda, Regina acting as her tree limb. Mal frowned as Emma wriggled down so their stomachs aligned. The last thing she wanted was for her baby to get knots again.

"I need my elixir if I'm to survive this."

It was barely more than a muttered whisper, but Regina heard. "Absolutely not! We're not giving that woman any excuse to say we're unfit."

"It'd just take the edge off. You used to like it. Remember how bad you were?"

"This is not the time to start that. I have our daughter asleep on me right now."

Regina had tried to scold, but Mal just smirked at her. "Yes, the result of how much you enjoyed being bad. When's the last time we were bad?"

"Maleficent!" Regina's face coloured and she looked down at the tiny blonde mass on her chest.

"Mommy."

Emma's sleepy little voice broke through the intensity of the women's eye contact.

"Yes, baby?"

Emma turned her head to face her blonde mother. Green eyes stared into blue, sleepy face becoming serious. "Nigh- night. Shh."

Mal's eyes widened. She'd just been told off by her daughter. She looked at her wife only to find Regina trying hard to stifle her laughter. In that moment, Emma had been all Regina. Staring at the ceiling, Mal wondered if this was how Regina felt about her and Lily.

 **DQDQDQ**

"Stop pacing. You're going to upset the girls."

Mal had insisted they get to the hospital fifteen minutes early. She wanted to beat Snow there and scope out the layout. Mal had warded the entire room, its contents, and the girls. She'd talked to the guards posted at the door. She'd met the social worker, Anna. Now they were just waiting on Snow.

"Regina, I still say there's enough time to leave, to make up some excuse and just take the girls home."

Regina walked over and pulled her wife into a kiss before pulling back and resting their foreheads together. "Everything will be fine. We're free to leave at any time. If Emma doesn't like it or want to see her again, we don't have to."

"Ladies, do you need anything? The front desk just called and said Snow checked in."

Both women looked at Kathryn. Regina thought of Kat as a friend. She personally thought the lawyer was a good person. Maleficent didn't like her at all. She was more than aware of all the Midas princess's indiscretions. Now they affected her baby, and if any other person in town could do half the job Kathryn could, Mal would have chosen them in an instant.

"Vodka." "No thank you."

Kat didn't know if the dragon was serious or not. "This is a hospital. There's no drinking here."

"She was kidding. Maleficent is just a bit apprehensive."

"And you? How are you about this?"

"I think that Emma needs this. I am not excited about it in the slightest. I'm sure she'll be up to something awful, but the visits were part of the agreement. If we want her to help us get Rumple, we have to do this. I just want them both to suffer."

Mal finally saw why her wife was pushing so hard. "There's my evil queen." She wrapped an arm around Regina's waist and pulled her close just as the door opened.

Heads turned so fast in the room it couldn't have been more cinematic. Snow's eyes scanned the room before locking on Emma. Her little girl was in a purple dress and green leggings with purple polkadots. She assumed the girls were dressed the same to remind her that the girls were twins. Snow scoffed. As if _she_ was the one who needed a reminder.

Emma froze, looking between Snow and her mothers. Green eyes widened before her little bottom lip jutted into a pout and her face became hidden behind her hands.

"What did you do to her? Emma has never been afraid of me before."

Regina bristled and squared her shoulders. "Emma is a highly intuitive child. We didn't tell her anything. She's hiding all on her own." She smiled down at her girls. "Emma, Lily, can you say hello please?"

Lily looked at Emma before craning around to look up at Emma. "No, Mama. No hi."

"Lily."

"It's fine. Hello Lily." Snow sat down near the girls and stared at Emma. "Hi baby girl. I've missed you."

Emma's fingers spread a little, enough for her to peek through at Snow.

"I brought you some tummy juice. I heard you didn't feel well."

Maleficent magicked the cup to her when Snow offered the cup to Emma. "Do not give them things without asking us first. What is this?"

"It's horchata. Granny was trying a special one day when Emma wasn't feeling well. The doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong. He didn't get close or know exactly what was wrong, but Rumple said her stomach was upset. I accidentally gave her this, and she'd get sick, but it seemed to help. She'd feel better the next day."

Blue eyes widened in shock before narrowing in anger. "You're telling me that my baby has gone her entire life with knots? Do you realize what an idiot you are? You're lucky she isn't dead!"

Kat noticed first that Emma was crying. The little girl was looking between the three women entirely unsure who to go to for comfort, so she walked over and picked Emma up. "Shh, Emma. You're alright. Your mommies are going to stop fighting now."

Snow glared right back at Mal before looking at Emma. Her baby's was currently clinging to the harlot. If only Emma was old enough to understand that she was seeking comfort from the woman who'd destroyed her family. "Emma's not dead. What are knots?"

"A dragon is highly sensitive. If Emma's had knots since she was born, it means she lacked nutrients. Had she stayed with me, I could have fixed it instantly. She never would have been in pain. Kathryn's destroyed garden, Emma did that. Eleven months worth of food that sat trapped inside her dragon, boiling away. Does that sound pleasant to you, Snow? It could have killed her. If her magic wasn't as strong as it was, you'd be responsible for her death."

"Ladies, that is enough! This is supposed to be a happy visit, for Emma. You can fight later. Right now, you both need to table it and focus on the girls."

Lily walked over to Snow, who was still seated on the ground, and stared her dead in the eye as she wagged her finger. "No tay Em. Bad!"

"You told them?"

"Emma asked us if you'd taken her. She knew. She's always known. Her first word was mama. She called me mama months ago. Don't give Emma anything more and we can all calm down and use this meeting wisely."

Snow wanted to go after Regina for that comment. Emma was _hers._ Those two may have ripped her away from Snow, but she was still Emma's mother. Going in, Snow hadn't planned on aiming for revenge, but now? Now she was going to make them suffer.

Kat placed Emma on the ground next to Lily. "Go play with the toys, girls."

Lily took Emma's hand and dragged her over to the dollhouse. Emma really wasn't in the mood to play, but she took the doll that her sister gave her. The room watched for a while as they played. Tired of being stared at, Lily walked over to her moms and handed each of them a toy. Slowly, Emma got up and shuffled over to Snow, shyly holding out a doll.

"Thank you Emma. This is a very pretty doll."

Emma looked at Regina before curling her fingers around one of Snow's and walking back over to the dollhouse. "Mama, Mommy, Nohs."

Regina reached out and cupped Emma's cheek, smiling at her. "I know, baby mine. Do you want to throw a ball? We had balls all the time in the forest."

White smoke swirled around Emma's free hand before the little blonde dropped the ball into Regina's lap.

Mal laughed. "Good job, Emma. That is a ball. Mama meant a dance though. We had lots of dances, called a ball. We wore fancy dresses and had lots of food. People came from all over to dance and have fun."

"Me ball?"

"I think Mommy and I can arrange a ball for you, Lily. You and your sister will be the prettiest princesses there."

Kat silently filmed them all playing dolls. This was too good an ammunition should she ever need it. She also needed proof that it actually happened. No one would ever believe this on word alone.

They all played for a while. The women didn't really address each other, focusing on the girls. Snow was the first one to talk.

"How has she been? Does Emma sleep well?"

"Yes, she sleeps fine. Why?"

"Her naptime has a specific routine. If I don't follow it, she doesn't sleep."

"She does fine with us. Emma has been wonderful."

"Nohs."

"Yes Emma?"

"Birdy."

"You want the birds to come? There's no windows that open here. I can't bring them in."

Anna checked back into the conversation at the mention of opening windows and birds. "We can't have birds in here. They could bring in a disease and some of these patients are very susceptible to getting sick."

Emma pouted at the strange woman, blonde brows furrowing. Lily took in her sister's face and instantly mimicked it. She wanted to see birds too.

"Babies, I can have you see your unicorn when we get home. It's alright."

The guards came in at the end of the hour, telling Snow that it was time to go.

Looking at her mothers, Emma slowly crawled into Snow's lap and hugged her. Lily didn't want to be left out and hugged Snow too. Snow wasn't prepared for that, but she smiled down at Lily. Maybe there was a way she could get both the girls.

"Their birthday is coming up. Can I come?"

Mal looked over at Regina. She absolutely didn't want to have Snow there.

"No. This was only the first visit. We'll be planning a mini ball for the girls and for the town for the winter holidays. If the visits keep going well, we'll consider inviting you to that."

"That isn't fair! You cannot keep me from my daughter's birthday, Regina!"

Mal stepped between the brunettes, not wanting to start fighting again and upsetting the girls. "Emma is _ours,_ Snow. We agreed to these visits. We didn't agree to meeting outside them. You should be happy with the potential for the ball. If Emma wants another visit, and you feel like giving her a birthday present, bring one for Lily too."

Making sure that her daughters were securely holding onto Regina, Mal poofed them back to their home. Snow was making her unsettled. She knew the woman wasn't done messing with her family, and she wasn't about to stick around a moment longer.

That night, the women didn't even try putting the girls in their own bed. Regina and Mal went to their room, giving the girls their bottles and snuggling them close. The unease from the meeting earlier hadn't left. They just needed their girls close tonight.


	9. Chapter 9

"Any ideas for party themes, darling?"

Regina huffed and continued to move about the kitchen as Mal sat at the island sipping a scotch. "No. I've been scouring online, but nothing is good enough."

"They're one. They won't remember it anyways. We did Dr. Seuss pics for their invites. Why not a Seussian party?"

"Ugh, absolutely not. Sometimes I swear you're the 'Dad' in this relationship. Did you at least buy the correct presents? Everything has to be perfect."

Mal stood up and walked over to her wife. Regina was clearly annoyed and overwhelmed. She wrapped her arms around Regina's waist to stop her pacing. "I got everything on your list. It seems a bit much for their first birthday party, but whatever you want I'm fine with. I'd be happy just having a lazy day where we cuddle our babies and watch movies."

"That's for after their doctor's appointments. You know Lily is going to be pissed at us for taking her to get shots. I can only imagine what two will be like." Regina groaned and let her forehead fall forward onto her wife's shoulder. "Why isn't this easier?"

"Because we have two magical babies under a year old who have the intelligence of five year olds. Blame their shifting powers. We'll get through it. Just find something simple and elegant. The twins will be happy whatever we do."

Mal pulled Regina's phone out of the brunette's back pocket before pulling her wife over to the couch with her. Together they looked up party ideas on Pinterest until Mal came across a simple idea that was elegant enough for Regina without necessarily forcing a theme on the girls.

"Mama!"

Both women looked over to see Emma and Lily standing up in the playpen, their little faces pressed against the mesh. Mal brought them over to their laps with a flick of her wrist and a cloud of green smoke.

Emma stood up on Regina's thighs to rest her head on her mama's shoulder. Lily just plopped right down in Mal's lap and looked up at her mother expectantly. "What do?"

Regina reached over and stroked Lily's dark curls which earned a whine from Emma. "I didn't forget you, my baby." She brought her hand back over to rub Emma's back, the other one under her bottom to hold her up. "We're planning your birthday. Want to see what it's going to look like?"

Both girls turned towards Regina's phone, causing Mal to laugh. "They're going to get addicted to that thing just like you are."

"Shush." Regina shot her wife a glare as she pulled up the party theme she'd found. It was simple, yes, but it was very pleasing to look at. Pale pink, pastel blue, silver, and white and everything in the shape of stars.

"'Tar." Emma's wet little finger popped out of her mouth and pressed against the screen.

"No. Bwoo. See, bwoo" Lily slapped Ema's hand away and pointed to the blue stars.

Mal quickly reached forward and grabbed Lily's hands as their girls glared and pouted. Large crocodile tears were forming in Emma's eyes and she wanted to diffuse the situation as quickly as possible. "You're both right. Lily, that is blue. There's also pink too. There the colours on the stars. Emma was right about those being stars."

Emma stuck her tongue out at Lily before turning and burying her face in Regina's neck.

Regina sighed. "Well, a lifetime of this will be interesting. We're finally going to be those parents on television who just pray to get through the day while their kids bicker all day."

Lily giggled before reaching over and poking Emma's ribs. Emma jumped and twisted around to face Lily, sticking her tongue out again. Lily mimicked her right back until they were both doubled over in a fit of giggles and pokes.

"I think we'll be just fine, dear. They're perfect." Mal couldn't help but smile as she watched her girls go from huffy and annoyed to giggles in a few short seconds. She knew it wouldn't always be this easy, but she would gladly take whatever they gave her. She scooted over closer to Regina and wrapped an arm around her while they watched their little ones play.

 **DQDQDQ**

Mal sighed. This day was one she'd hoped to avoid. Somehow the doctor's appointment had been forgotten when they'd agreed on the day to meet Snow for the girls' birthday, and now both shitty things were on the same day just a few hours apart.

"Get up! Do you not hear the girls screaming to get out of their cribs? Dr. Prescott cleared an hour and a half for their appointment, and we still have to get them up, bathed, dressed, and fed. Please _get up!"_

Regina was rushing around in her closet. The water droplets lingering and slowly falling from the curling tip of Regina's hair told Mal she'd missed having a shower with her wife. Regina still insisted on trying to do things without magic to teach the girls the value of hard work, and how to live if their magic ever failed, but Mal didn't see that necessity. She flicked her wrist and was freshly ready to go. She went off to gather her babies while Regina finished getting ready.

Emma pouted and flopped down on her butt when she saw it was Mal instead of Regina. She didn't feel good, and she just wanted her mama. Lily cheered and started bouncing on the mattress waiting for her mother to pick her up.

"Good morning, babies." Mal scooped up Lily and placed her on her hip. "Emmie, you having a bad day?"

Mal was utterly shocked when Emma threw her head back and screamed at the top of her lungs. The screeching caused Regina to come running in. Mal pulled her back a second before Emma threw up all over the crib.

"Someone is not having a good day."

Emma only wailed louder at Mal's comment. Regina magicked Emma's clothes to the hamper so her baby was just in a diaper before picking her up, mindful of the rest of the dirty crib. "Shh, baby. You're okay. Let's go have a warm bath and see if you feel better."

Lily's excitement quickly died down when she was put in the bath. Regina and Mal would have found it cute how the girls cuddled up and tried to lay down and sleep if there wasn't a risk of drowning the girls didn't seem to know or care about.

"What happened? They were completely fine yesterday." Regina quickly shampooed Emma's hair, dodging little swats as Emma pouted and grunted up at her.

"No do. Em no want."

"Sorry, Lily, but you girls need to get clean. We've a big day." Mal tried to wash Lily, but was wholly unprepared for the fight the tot gave her. More water ended up on Mal than anything else.

Regina used magic to clean the bathroom before scooping her girls up in a large fluffy purple towel. Emma fought hard to get away from Regina as she tried to diaper her baby. The second Regina had it on, Emma scrambled away and tugged harshly at it until it fell off.

"NO!" Emma let her diaper fall to the ground as she stared her mama down before running away. Lily laughed and tried to follow suit, but Mal was quicker than that.

"Don't even think about it, Little Miss." Mal secured Lily's diaper with magic before gently rubbing the towel over her wet hair to try and keep her from getting sick. She handed Lily to Regina. "I'll go get our renegade. You can get her started on cereal. Their bottles are in the fridge."

Mal used magic to trace Emma's little footprints to find her baby curled up under their bed sucking on a pacifier, her blanket tucked tightly into her arm and under her head. "Emma, sweetheart, I know you feel yucky. Can you come out so Mommy can give you snuggles?"

"Tay here." Emma mumbled before scooching further away from Mal's reaching arms.

"You can't stay there, baby. We've got a busy day ahead of us."

Emma pouted and turned away from Mal. "No do."

Mal used magic to poof her baby into her arms. It earned her a deep frown from Emma. "You can be mad at me all you want. We still have to do things today. Do you want to get dressed?"

"NO!" Emma grumbled and burrowed down in Mal's lap. Mal tried to take the pacifier and Emma swatted at her hands.

"Emma, we do not hit. That's not nice. Can you tell Mommy what feels yucky?"

"Mama."

Mal stared at Emma in confusion, the back of her hand trying to check for fever. Emma pushed her hand away again. "Okay, I get you're crabby. Let's go see what Mama and Lil are doing."

Regina looked up from feeding Lily to find Emma still naked, cuddled into her wife's chest and clutching her blanket and going to town on her pacifier. "Dear, does she want a bottle?"

"NO!"

"Oh, well then. Excuse me mini madame. Mommy needs to get you dressed. No nakey babies today."

Lily was barely eating her cereal this morning so Regina knew Emma would be even worse if she tried. Once the girls were dressed, Regina and Mal took them to the party store to get supplies for their party. Both girls were content to sit in their carriers as Mal wheeled them around following Regina as she threw everything colour appropriate or star shaped into her cart.

They let the girls take their morning nap in their bed while they cleaned the crib. Regina broke down and used magic. There were very few things she couldn't handle, but vomit was high on her list of things too gross to manually deal with.

Dr. Prescott didn't bother trying to make a nurse see them alone. She brought two in with her. Both Lily and Emma had started crying the second they realized where they were. While Lily fought tooth and nail at everything while Emma just tried to bury herself into Regina.

"Emma threw up this morning. Neither is feeling well." Regina popped Emma's pacifier in the second Dr. Prescott finished looking in Emma's mouth.

"They're both slightly feverish, but everything seems fine. Emma's about seven pounds and three inches smaller than Lilith. I tried getting Snow to buy Pediasure Grow and Gain but she refused. I urge you to invest in them. Size difference isn't uncommon in twins, but Emma is at the very bottom percentile for her age group." The redheaded woman moved to listen to Emma's lungs, pleased at how clear they sounded.

Emma tried to curl up into a ball when a nurse came in carrying a tray of shots. She didn't like them, but they always meant cuddle time. Lily had other ideas and grabbed onto Emma's hand. Mal and Regina were so wrapped up in how cute it was that it took them a few moments to notice Lily had used Emma's added magic to freeze the room.

"Lilith Coraline Rose-Mills." Lily's eyes widened at her blonde mother. They'd never used her full name before. She burst out sobbing and held tighter to Emma's hand, but the room unfroze.

"I figured it wasn't Emma. She never fights me on shots. It'll only hurt for a second, little one. Emma will show you how to do it. Olivia, would you prep all Emma's shots?" Dr. Prescott smiled at Emma, rubbing her naked thighs with an alcohol wipe. Emma just glared before turning her face to hide in Regina's shirt.

Regina was impressed that Emma barely even flinched at the three shots to her little legs. She felt the wet patches from Emma's silent tears against her stomach, but she was the exact opposite to Lily. Despite having watched how calm her sister just was, Lily fought hard. She screamed and sobbed. Mal had to use her magic to help Dr. Prescott not get a foot or fist while quickly delivering the shots.

"All done, Miss Lily. Would you and Emma like a toy?" Dr. Prescott took the basket of small prizes from her nurse to present to Lily.

Lily eyed her skeptically as she quickly snatched a purple ball from the basket. Mal tried to get her to say thank you, but all they got was a feral growl. Dr. Prescott knew the small blonde had to be coaxed out of her hiding spot. Emma rarely picked a prize. Emma peeked back out at the doctor only to be handed a grey small plush chick.

"I'll see them back in three months. Mild fevers under 102 are normal after vaccines. Give them some baby Tylenol and they should be alright. If their fever gets worse than 102, or they present with rashes, redness on the injection sites, or vomiting call me. Good job girls." Dr. Prescott left Regina and Maleficent to deal with the upset twins.

Mal leaned down and kissed Lily's bandages before kissing her face all over until she giggled. Regina normally joined in, but she had her own little one currently clinging to her and trying to hide inside her shirt. She smoothed back some of Emma's wild curls before noticing how flushed her face was.

"It's just from crying, darling. We'll give them some Tylenol and keep an eye on them. They'll be okay." Mal squeezed Regina's shoulder before bringing her wife's head closer to kiss her temple.

"We have a little over an hour before our visit. I'm too exhausted to make lunch. Do you want to go visit Granny's?"

Emma's whining cut in before Mal could respond to Regina. "Mama!"

Regina rubbed Emma's back and started lightly bouncing. "Mama's right here, baby. What's wrong?"

Emma burst into tears which prompted Lily to start crying too. Mal knew her babies would just proceed to scream if they tried to put them in their carseats, so she poofed them to the diner.

"Babies!" Ruby rushed over, stopping short when she realized the girls were crying. "Oh no. Why the tears? Do you two want to colour?"

Lily whined as she reached out and swatted at Ruby while Emma turned her face into Regina's neck to hide.

Mal quickly grabbed Lily's hand. "We're having some trouble today with not hitting. They just had their shots though, so a booth would be good. Maybe two extra small vanilla milkshakes for them?"

The gesture surprised Regina. They'd been so careful about the girls' eating habits since Emma's knots. Today was an incredibly stressful day, and it wasn't even half over yet. She just hoped the day ended soon so they could go home and just snuggle in her bed. She silently followed her wife to a booth in the back corner and slid into the seat still holding Emma.

Lily started crying until Mal moved into the same side of the booth as Regina and Emma. Regina smiled when Lily and Emma reached for each other again, their little hands holding together tightly. Ruby was only too eager to bring over two vanilla milkshakes in the smallest glasses the diner had.

The treat seemed to perk the girls up a bit, but they didn't eat much of their lunch. The girls were wholly confused when Mal poofed them to the visitation room. Before they could start crying again, Regina conjured their blankets and their pacifiers. They were all cuddled together on the couch when Snow burst through the doors followed by Kathryn holding two large gift bags.

"Nohs?" Emma pushed herself up in Regina's lap and shook Lily until she sat up too.

Snow beamed a smile and walked over to her baby. "Hi honey. Why are you sad?"

Emma pointed to her thigh. "P'cott."

"Oh, you saw Dr. Prescott today? Did she give you colorful ouchies?"

Emma nodded and tried to wriggle her pants down. When she couldn't, Emma magicked them away to show off her coloured plasters.

"You got three? Did she give you a prize for being a good girl?"

Emma proudly held up her tiny chick. "Mine. Lee ball."

"My ball." Lily pulled her ball out of her pocket to examine it before stashing it away again. She eyed her sister's toy. She snatched it out of Emma's hands. "Mine."

"NO! Be nice." Emma took her little chick back and smoothed the ruffled fur feathers, cooing at it like it was a real bird. She delivered a stern look at her sister and wagged a finger as one hand cupped her baby. "Nice."

"Mommy! Mine." Lily pouted up at her blonde mother, expecting to get Emma's toy too.

"No, Lily. That's Emma's toy. You picked the ball. If you want to see Emma's duck, ask, otherwise you let her toy be." Mal raised her eyebrow as Lily continued to pout and reach for Emma's toy.

Snow motioned Kathryn forward and took the present bags from the lawyer. She'd triple checked her list before sending the blonde out to get the gifts. She was being kept in the jail while the police worked on bringing down Rumple, so it wasn't like she could go present shopping for the girls herself. "I brought presents."

Emma carefully tucked her chick into the crook in the arm of the couch before taking the purple bag presented to her. Snow handed Lily a darker purple bag. Each had the correct initial on the front. Lily looked at Emma, smiling, before digging in. She threw the tissue paper all over until she could finally pull out her first present. Emma was much neater. She pulled out the paper and handed it to Mal.

"Ooh. ball!" Lily waved around her new bright green spiky sensory ball.

Emma pulled out a large bag of Megabloks first building blocks. She lost interest in the rest of the presents in the bag until Regina pulled out a bag of strawberry yogurt drops. Neither Emma nor Lily held much interest in the clothes. There was a DVD each. Lily got a shape sorter. She pulled out a plush raccoon and looked over to see her brunette mother helping Emma pull out a large plush robin.

"Mine!" Lily reached over and grabbed the bird while Emma grabbed the raccoon and snuggled it happily before holding it up to Regina. "Mee'o!"

Snow frowned. She'd wanted Emma to have the bird to show Regina and Maleficent that Emma was really her daughter, but she seemed so happy with the raccoon. "Mio?"

"Meeko, the raccoon from Pocahontas. Emma loves that movie." Regina smiled down at Emma and indulged her in petting the stuffed animal's head.

"Mee'o!" Emma pulled the raccoon to her little chest before suddenly popping up and bringing the little chick into her hand. The adults all smiled as Emma looked to be introducing her new little animals to each other.

Mal looked at the last gift in Lily's bag and shook her head. She was tempted to punch Snow. The woman was absolutely narcissistic. "I'm not giving her that doll. That's completely inappropriate."

"Why? They have other Disney princess dolls do they not?" Snow huffed and crossed her arms over her chest, her joy instantly vanishing.

Regina pulled out Emma's doll and frowned. "The same reason we don't give them dolls of us. They're too young to understand the difference between it just being society's version of a character they don't believe is real and actual people. Emma and Lily have never met the real versions of most their dolls, and if they have, we're very careful to not have them confused."

Emma and Lily stared at the Snow White animator's edition doll. It was as big as them. Lily scrunched up her face in confusion as she poked the box before looking up at Mal for an explanation. Emma looked between Snow and the doll before pushing the box to the floor and started crying.

Regina glared at Snow as she tried to soothe Emma. Snow just smiled at them, pleased that she caused such drama.

"Okay, maybe the animator doll and the my first princess doll could be donated to the kids here at the hospital instead? Snow, you were told that if you were to bring gifts to make them appropriate. Keep in mind that every action goes into consideration of a next visit and this was an incredibly poor decision." Anna eyed Snow warily before writing a bunch in her notebook.

"Emmie, I found A Pup Named Scooby-Doo for you." Snow motioned for Kat to give her the DVD set.

Mal's brows furrowed in confusion as Emma reached for the DVD. "What is that?"

"Emma's favourite cartoon."

Kat shifted nervously as the tension in the room grew. "Regina, the girls look exhausted. Why don't we try again a different day? Emma looks a bit flushed."

"What? No! They agreed to this visit. I want to see my Emma." Snow was immediately angry and stood up, frightening both girls.

Anna and Kat were already on edge, and after the dolls Regina and Mal were upset. None of them hesitated to call in the security team to remove Snow.

Emma sighed as some very large men made Snow leave the room. "Bad Nohs. No be good."

Mal scooped up Emma into her lap. "I'm sorry, baby. Snow wasn't very good today. We can try a different day if you want. You ready to go home?" Emma nodded and snuggled in next to Lily. Maleficent, however, handed them both to Regina.

"I'll take them home. You can have it out with Kat. Bring home their gifts, but leave the dolls. That's never happening." Regina gave her wife a kiss before poofing herself and the girls home.

Mal slowly got up from the couch. Kat noticed the predatory glare in the taller blonde's eyes and stepped backwards holding her hands up.

"Maleficent, whatever you're about to do, you don't need to do. Think of the girls!"

"That's funny considering you didn't think of my girls when you bought them those Snow White dolls. I don't care if she gave you a list of only Snow items. She's in jail while you're not. You could have said no. You _should_ have said no. Better yet, you should have not even bought them and let her deal with it later on." Mal advanced on Kat until she was backed up into a wall.

Kat shot a pleading glance at the social worker. "I'm sorry. I messed up. She scares me more than a little. I won't make that mistake again."

Maleficent growled at the trapped woman. She'd love nothing more than to give into her instinct and make this wretched woman into a snack, but sadly the former princess was still Regina's friend. "I suggest you don't, or I won't let you go next time."

Anna stepped in as Mal finally stepped back, releasing the terrified lawyer. "Okay, let's not say things we might regret later. I'd like to have a behavioural psychologist run some tests on Snow to determine if these visits should continue. What happened today was deliberate and meant to provoke Regina and Maleficent. She seemed gleeful that it caused Emma to cry, and I won't allow these visitations to continue if it's going to put the children in harm's way."

"Finally someone with sense. I'd love to terminate these pointless visitations. Emma is always sad for days afterwards, and she's not happy during them. I've got a family to return to." Mal threw up her hands and disappeared in a cloud of green smoke.

Regina had the girls in fleece onesie pajamas cuddling on their bed and watching a movie. Maleficent loved when her wife dressed down into yoga pants and one of her tee shirts. Using magic to change quickly, she hopped into bed and snuggled in next to her little family.

 **DQDQDQDQ**

Briar had come over early with Stefan and Aurora to help Regina set up. Maleficent and Stefan stood back and watched the girls run around and play until they were asked to do something.

"Did you bring her?" Mal was leaning against the wall watching her girls show Aurora their new toys. She turned her head to glance at Stefan, who nodded.

Stefan eyed her skeptically. "Beast is in the shed out back tied up with some hay and water like you instructed. You sure Regina will go for this?"

"Yes. We both discussed the pet thing numerous times. Emma tried to steal a piglet from the fall festival. She adores animals. She won't let Lily be mean to her stuffed animals. It'd be good for Lily to learn some patience and to be a bit kinder. Regina agreed to a pet, and I miss my unicorn."

"You bought two babies a mini unicorn. It has hooves and teeth, and a freaking horn, Maleficent. It can't be an indoor pet unless you find a miracle to train it to go to the bathroom in a litterbox. Are you going to have time to properly exercise a horse and two babies?"

Mal silently considered his points. The whole bathroom thing was going to be a problem, but she knew what little love bugs mini unicorns could be. She'd just have to use magic to deal with that, but she was confident the girls would love her.

Regina couldn't thank Briar enough for helping her set up. While the theme was simple enough, their living room space was quite large. The backyard needed to be decorated too to have an additional space to run around if it was warm enough later.

"I brought what you asked for. Are you sure you want to take on a puppy and two babies?" Briar sipped her mimosa slowly before rearranging the blacks stars on the silver bucket that was going to hold something.

"The breed is kid friendly, easily trainable, and hypoallergenic. It's also an Italian breed. My mother would have been pleased. Lagotto Romagnolo are hard to come by. I found the little chocolate and white curly fluff ball irresistible. The dark hair reminded me of Lily and the green eyes of Emma. They'll love her. Emma wants a pet so badly."

Briar frowned. "Did you ask Mallie? Animals tend to be skittish around her dragon. The puppy is adorable, but your wife and babies are dragons who could potentially view it as a food source."

Regina just shrugged. "Mal said a pet would be fine. We discussed it extensively after Emma tried to abduct a piglet. The girls have had a rough week. I think we can manage a puppy in the mix."

"Puppies bite, scratch, go to the bathroom everywhere, need a lot of exercise and attention. Emma may be mellow, but Lily could hurt her or she could hurt thee girls. Larkin would understand if you brought her back."

"No! Lily is a bit aggressive, but she can learn to be gentler and kinder with the puppy. Emma won't let her hurt the poor dear. The breed is extremely trainable, and I already have a biter. Emma does not like to be touched by strangers. she's even bitten Mal when she's upset. This puppy will be good for us."

Regina was sure the girls would love the puppy. She'd already fallen in love with the little thing. Briar's concerns were valid, but nonplus. They finally got all thee decorations set up and the little gift bags assembled. The party would start in an hour.

Mal watched as Lily and Aurora dragged out all the animator collection dolls. She couldn't ever remember playing dolls unless Briar had forced her. Emma didn't look too thrilled to have to play with them until Lily tried to force her to take the Rapunzel doll.

Emma frowned as Lily shoved the blonde doll into her hands. Lily just pointed to the doll and then to her saying 'you'. Emma didn't want the doll that looked like her though. She stood up and dropped the Rapunzel doll, latching onto the Pocahontas doll. "Mine!"

Lily frowned and tugged the doll closer to her. "NO! Mine!" She whined when Emma kept tugging on the doll. Her sister didn't even like dolls. She wasn't about to give up her doll when Emma didn't wanna play.

"What's going on in here?"

Both girls held fiercely onto the doll as they turned to their brunette mother. "Mine!"

Regina sighed and freed each little hand from the arms of the doll, holding it above them. "If you can't share your toys nicely, Mama is going to take them away. There are plenty of other dolls."

Lily huffed before glaring at Emma and going to find a different doll. Emma, however, flopped down and started crying. "Mine!"

"Sorry, Emma, but if you can't play nicely then the toy needs a timeout." Regina took the doll up with her to the girls' room to grab their outfits. She'd found these adorable lace rompers in pink and blue stripes that looked absolutely adorable and matched her colour scheme perfectly. Her babies were running around in just their diapers right now. They'd been on a naked kick lately, but hopefully they'd behave today.

The girls didn't initially take well to being dressed, but once people started coming over and more kids came, they forgot all about their unhappiness in being clothed. There were little games and activities for the kids. There were several platters of food and buckets of drinks for the adults.

A redheaded woman was stopped on the way into the house. Regina was livid when, in the midst of her mingling, she noticed a large man she recognized from the visitation security detail talking to her wife. She excused herself and made her way over to her wife.

"Is there a problem here?"

Mal silently cursed as she took in the pissed expression of her wife. "I had to. I didn't trust Snow or Gold to not show up some how. We're letting a lot of people and their kids in here. I just wanted to protect the girls."

"You could have talked to me before bringing security into our home. Do you realize how this looks? Our guests had to be frisked and checked for glamours. No one is going to trust us anymore. I don't need people thinking I'm a paranoid nut right before reelection."

Zelena smirked to herself, enjoying the little spat the two seemed to be having. She decided to add to the tension. Extending her free hand in front of Regina, she introduced herself. "Hello. I'm Zelena West. I just came here from Oz. I found your nanny request in the newspaper. I thought this might be a good time to observe the girls and see if we'd be a good fit."

Regina spun to face her wife. "You did _what?!"_

Mal held her hands up, already feeling the migraine coming on. "We both know that watching the girls at your office is too difficult since there's two and they're mobile. Neither of us wants daycare, so a nanny is the best option. I only placed an ad inquiring that potential interviewees _call_ me." Mal shot a glare at Zelena before looking back at her wife.

Regina's gaze was narrowed as she stared at her wife. "We'll talk about this later."

"I was unaware you didn't know. I brought presents." Zelena plastered a fake smile on her face but she became unsettled as the feeling of being watched washed over her.

Emma watched the tall redheaded suspiciously. Something felt off about her. Lily had no problem running over to her and getting a hug, but Emma refused. She walked the other way. Zelena frowned as the mini blonde seemed to avoid her at all costs. She managed to corner Emma and went to pinch her cheeks.

"Aren't you just the cutest little thing?"

Emma glared at her, a low growl rumbling in her chest. "No."

Regina noticed Zelena was trying to get close to Emma. She quickly made her way over to Mal and nudged her to look in their direction. "She's going to bite your only applicant."

Mal couldn't help but smile. She prided herself on Emma biting people. It sounded horrible, but Emma was so laidback and mellow normally that her biting people reminded her mothers that she was indeed a dragon and had a bit of mischief in her. It was probably bad though that Emma was about to scare off the new nanny. She raced over just as Zelena went to touch Emma. Sharp little canines sank into Zelena's wrist before Mal could pull Emma away.

"That was quite rude. Biting is not nice, little lady. You wouldn't like it if I bit you now, would you?" Zelena rubbed her wrist over the bright red teeth marks that were already bruising.

Emma made a noise somewhere between a growl and a hiss. "No!"

"Sorry. We didn't get around to giving you the warning not to approach her. Emma doesn't like strangers coming into her personal space. You've got to give her some time to adjust and get to know you before she'll feel comfortable. She bites everyone." Mal scooped Emma up and gave a half hearted apologetic smile to the redhead.

"Mommy no." Emma glared at Zelena before hiding her face against Mal's collarbone.

Lily ran over and pulled on Mal's pant leg until she lowered Emma to the ground. Once Lily had Emma's little hand in hers, they took off.

"Sorry. It takes a while to get used to them. Perhaps if you just observed from a distance it might be better? I brought you an ice pack. It won't be the first time one of them bites you if we decide to hire you on." Regina appeared next to her wife and handed a small ice pack to Zelena.

A red brow raised. "Pardon?"

Mal's face broke out into a full fledged grin. "Oh, our babies are dragons. They haven't shifted yet, but they're very in tune with their inner animal."

Zelena did her best not to sneer. Great, just another obstacle for her to overcome before she could destroy her sister.

It came time for dessert. Instead of cake, Regina and Mal had opted for star shaped sugar cookies with either pink or blue frosting. It cut down on the sugar while still being delicious. The kids didn't seem to mind either. After dessert came present opening. Aurora wedged herself into the group and tried helping Lily and Emma open gifts. Lily loved the dresses and the dolls. Emma loved the stuffed animals and the games. When the party wrapped up and it was just Briar, Stefan, Kat, Zelena, Aurora, Emma, and Lily left in the house, both mothers went to retrieve their pets.

Mal and Regina walked into the room at the same time with their animals. Emma and Lily looked between them completely unsure who to run to first. Regina and Mal froze, staring at each other in shock. When Regina's animal squirmed, Emma got up and ran over as fast as her little legs would go. She reached up and made grabby hands until Regina snapped out of her shock at Mal in their house with a horse.

"Emma, this is your puppy for you and Lily. Her name is-"

"Doggy!" Emma interrupted her mother and clapped her hands before holding her arms out for the puppy.

"No, Emma. Her name is Cosima. If you sit down you can hold her."

"My doggy." Emma was too excited to listen to her mother and reached forward to pet the puppy.

The group watched in amazement as the squirming, whining puppy settled as Emma cooed at it. Regina helped Emma hold the puppy so she wasn't hurting her. Cosima leaned up and lapped at Emma's face repeatedly causing the tiny blonde to erupt in giggles.

Lily charged at the unicorn, causing the beast to shake her head and back up, trying to flee. Emma paused her attention on little Cosima and walked over to her sister. She tugged Lily's hand until she stopped. "No. Be nice."

Lily watched as Emma walked over to the all black unicorn, holding out her hand. Mal crouched down and calmed the mini beast, reassuring that her new tiny masters wouldn't hurt her. Emma smiled at the unicorn as she sniffed her hand before lowering her head. Once the beast trusted her enough, she pulled Lily forward. "Nice Lee."

"You got them a unicorn?" Regina hissed, in awe of the delicacy in which Emma approached animals.

Mal turned to stare incredulously at her wife. "You got them a puppy. You don't even like dogs."

"We can't keep them both. One of them will have to go back."

Emma's eyes narrowed as she spun to face her mothers. She scooped up the puppy in one arm and grabbed Lily's hand with her free one. "Dis mine. Bad Mama."

The girls and the animals disappeared in a cloud of white smoke, startling everyone, Zelena most especially. Poofing yourself was an advanced spell. These babies could poof themselves and two animals as well.

"They have magic? However are you going to find the little darlings?"

Regina turned to scoff at Zelena before disappearing in a cloud of purple smoke. Mal just sighed. "It's not a good idea to provoke her. My wife has an evil temper you don't want to be on the other side of. We'll be right back." Mal disappeared in her own cloud of green smoke.

Mal followed her wife to find the girls huddled by the docks with the animals. They seemed to be waiting for the ferry to come pick them up. She chuckled in amusement. "Baby dolls, just where do you think you're going?"

The puppy whined and Lily squeezed Emma's hand tighter. Both girls spun around and extended an arm out in front of them, ready to attack. Emma's little protection shield flew up.

"No Mommy! Mine! No tay."

Regina slowly approached and crouched in front of the shield to be level with Emma and Lily despite the obstructive pencil skirt. "My heart, do you want to keep both pets?"

Both girls nodded, their little bottom lips sticking out in an adorable pout. Lily grabbed onto the unicorn's leash and Emma held the puppy close.

Mal walked over and placed a hand on her wife's shoulder. "Babies, if you want both pets, your Mama and I will try it out and see how it goes. It'll be okay."

Emma's little eyebrows furrowed as she shook her head no. "Mine!"

Regina chuckled that her wife had failed. "Emmie, Mommy and I promise we will let you keep your pets. It's alright. We promise."

"Do you have a name for your unicorn?" Maleficent hadn't given the darling thing a name yet.

Lily smiled up at her. "Pe'ny."

Regina and Mal were confused until a wreath of flowers appeared around the unicorn's neck. Mal thought the name was an odd choice, but she'd have to wait for an explanation.

"Peony is a beautiful name, little flower. How about we go home now? It's cold out here." Regina certainly felt the chill from the sea air. She didn't want her girls or their new pets to get ill.

"No tay?" Emma double checked. She clearly didn't trust her mothers not to take her babies back.

Regina shook her head no. "We're not taking them away from you. It's cold out here though, and all your presents are at home. You don't want Cosima and Peony to get cold do you?"

Lily shook her head no as Emma held her puppy closer. Slowly the shield lowered and Regina scooped up Lily. Mal grabbed the reins for Peony in one hand and scooped up Emma and the puppy in the other. They returned home to find everyone still there.

Emma talked over to Aurora so she could pet the puppy too. "Cosi so good." She smiled at her cousin and encouraged her to not be afraid.

"Are you two sure that you can handle taking care of two young pets and two babies? That's going to be a lot of work." Briar was still unsure this whole pet thing was a good idea. Emma and Lily were a handful on their own, and then to add two pets on top of them. She feared it would get too chaotic, and someone was bound to suffer.

Lily frowned and wagged her finger at her aunt. "Mine and Em. No tay."

Regina soothed Lily while Mal assured her sister that they were going to try it. She was fairly confident that with determination and patience, she and Regina could manage just fine.

Zelena suffered through helping Briar, Kat, Regina, and Mal clean up while the kids played. She hugged Lily goodbye. She settled for nodding at Emma when the tiny blonde glared at her.

"We'll call you after we review your resumé. Thank you for your help cleaning up." Regina bid the woman off. Something about the redhead rubbed her the wrong way, but she seemed to get on with Lily. Emma took time to warm up to people. She just hoped more people applied for being the girls' nanny so they'd have some options maybe Emma liked better.

The girls crashed hard after dinner curled up in a pile. Cosima was nestled under Emma's arms against her chest as both girls used Peony as a pillow.

Mal came up behind Regina, wrapping her arms around her wife's waist and resting her head on the brunette's right shoulder as they observed their girls together. "We're blessed. You and the babies are my whole world. I love you my queen."

Regina turned her head and kissed Maleficent. "I love you too. You're still in the doghouse for the nanny and, the security team, and the unicorn."

Mal poofed the girls to their bed so she and Regina could snuggle them tonight before poofing the pets to their respective beds in the room she'd just cleared for them. "Let's go snuggle our babies and celebrate the last few hours of their birthday together."

Regina honestly couldn't remember a happier time in her life than right now, snuggled tight against her wife, holding their birthday girls as they slept peacefully. She wished this day didn't have to end. Mal smiled contently, knowing exactly what her wife was thinking. She leaned over and kissed her wife before taking a picture of them all together on the bed. It'd be one for thee scrapbooks for sure. Thee mothers fell asleep with smiles on their faces, perfectly content in their present little world.

Across town, another mother was plotting her revenge as she lit the candle on a single cupcake in honour of the birthday she wasn't allowed to celebrate with her baby.


End file.
